Ex  Libris 
C.  K. 


LIFE   OF    DEAN    BURGON 


Collegium  Cnclcnsc  Collegium  fligornfcnae 


HORACE    HART,    PRINTER    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY 


JOHN  WILLIAM  BURGON 

LATE   DEAN   OF   CHICHESTER 


WITH  EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  LETTERS  AND 
EARLY  JOURNALS 


BY    EDWARD    MEYRICK    GOULBURN,   D.D.,  D.C.L 


SOMETIME   DEAN   OF  NORWICH 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES:     WITH     PORTRAITS 
VOL.   I 


LONDON 

JOHN    MURRAY,   ALBEMARLE    STREET 
i  892 


St«tk 
Annex 


V-  / 


TO  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  (.OH 

RICHARD 

LORD    BISHOP   OF   CHICHESTER 
WHOSE    UNVARYING    KINDNESS    AND    TRUE    FRIENDSHIP 

THE   SUBJECT    OF   THIS    BIOGRAPHY 
ACCOUNTED   TO    BE    ONE   CHIEF  SOURCE   OF   THE    HAPPINESS  OF    HIS 

LIFE    AT   CHICHESTER 

AND    WHOSE    SERMON    ON    THAT    MOURNFUL    SUNDAY 
AUGUST    5.     l888 

is  DEAN  BURGON'S  BEST  AND  MOST  ELOQUENT  EULOGY 

THIS   WORK    IS    'BY    PERMISSION')    INSCRIBED 

WITH    SENTIMENTS   OF    AFFECTIONATE    ESTEEM    AND   VENERATION 

AND    WITH    GRATITUDE    FOR    ASSISTANCE    RECEIVED    IN    IT 

BY   THE   AUTHOR 


Tidorhs  bg  tbe  late  Bean  tturgon. 


THE  REVISION   REVISED THREE  ESSAYS  FROM  THE  'QLAK- 

TERLY  REVIEW.'  (I)  NEW  GREEK  TEXT;  (II)  NEW  ENGLISH 
VERSION  ;  (III)  WESTCOTT  AND  HORT'S  TEXTUAL  THEORY.  Corrected 
and  Enlarged.  With  a  Dissertation  on  i  Timothy  iii.  16.  Svo.  us. 


THE  LIVES  OF  TWELVE   GOOD  MEN. 


MARTIN  JOSEPH  ROUTH. 
HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 
CHARLES  MARRIOTT. 
EDWARD  HAWKINS. 
SAMUEL  WILBERFORCE. 
RICHARD  LYNCH  COTTON. 


RICHARD  GRESWELL. 
HENRY  OCTAVIUS  COXE. 
HENRY  LONGUEVILLE  MANSKL. 
WILLIAM  JACOBSON. 
CHARLES  PAGE  EDEN. 
CHARLES  LONGUET  HIGGINS. 


A  New  Edition,  with  Portraits  of  tlie  Autlwr  and  tlic 
Twelve  Good  Men.     One  Volume,  8vo.    \6s. 


PREFACE. 


IT  may  perhaps  be  questioned,  even  by  some  of  those 
who  greatly  esteemed  and  admired  John  William  Bur- 
gon,  whether  his  claims  to  be  gratefully  remembered  by 
the  Church,  and  had  in  honour  by  future  generations  of 
English  Christians,  might  not  have  been  satisfied  by  a 
short  Memoir. — whether  the  part  he  played  in  ecclesias- 
tical affairs,  and  in  the  history  of  religious  thought  during 
the  past  half-century,  was  of  sufficient  importance  to 
justify  so  detailed  a  record  of  his  life  as  is  attempted  in 
these  volumes.  The  author  entirely  thinks  it  was  so,  and 
for  the  following  reason.  Burgon  was  in  this  country 
the  leading  religious  teacher  of  his  time,  who  brought 
ail  the  resources  of  genius  and  profound  theological 
learning  to  rebut  the  encroachments  of  Rationalism, 
by  maintaining  inviolate  the  integrity  of  the  written 
Word  of  God  as  the  Church  has  received  it;  by  pointing 
out  its  depth,  its  versatility  of  application,  and  absolute 
inexhaustibility  of  significance  ;  and  by  insisting  upon  its 
paramount  claims  to  the  humble  and  reverent  reception  of 


viii  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

mankind,  as  having  been  "  given  by  Inspiration  of  God." 
That  nationalism  has  been  in  our  times  largely  under- 
mining the  simple  faith  of  our  Bishops  and  Clergy,  as 
well  as  our  laity,  in  those  parts  of  the  Divine  Testimony 
which  seem  to  present  difficulties  either  to  the  under- 
standing or  moral  sense,  there  are  unhappily  only  too 
many  evidences  on  all  sides  of  us.  "  By  faith  we  stand  " 
spiritually.  And  the  great  object  of  faith, — the  stay 
and  support  on  which  it  assures  itself  in  temptation 
and  trial, — is  the  Word  of  God.  Rationalism  therefore 
busies  itself  industriously  with  the  Word  of  God, — to 
see  whether  it  cannot  call  in  question  its  certainty,  and 
throw  doubt  upon  its  infallibility.  The  initial  question 
of  Rationalism,  the  question  by  which  the  Evil  One  suc- 
ceeded in  supplanting  the  loyalty  of  our  first  mother  to 
her  Creator,  was,  "  YEA,  HATH  GOD  SAID  ?  "  "  Is  His 
Word  genuine  ?  Is  it  authentic  1  Are  you  sure  that  it 
was  He  who  spake  to  you  1  Are  you  sure  of  what  He 
spake  ?  And  if  indeed  He  uttered  the  vexatious  restric- 
tion which  prevents  your  enjoyment  of  a  tree  '  good  for 
food,'  and  '  pleasant  to  the  eyes,'  and  '  a  tree  to  be  desired 
to  make  one  wise,'  how  does  that  restriction  comport 
with  His  goodness  and  His  desire  to  make  you  happy?" 
This  was  pure  Rationalism  in  the  germ  thereof,  and  as 
it  came  from  the  mouth  of  its  author.  And  it  was  to 
receive  subsequent  developments  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Sadducaism  was  its  great  development  in  the 
Church  of  the  Old  Dispensation.  And  Sadducaism  out- 
lined with  great  exactness  the  features  of  modern 
Rationalism.  Without  rejecting  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 


PREFACE.  ix 

Testament,  as  the  Jewish  Church  had  received  them,  the 
Sadducees  declined  to  interpret  them  in  the  obvious  sen M 
which  was  ordinarily  and  traditionally  attached  to  them: 
they  explained  away. — it  is  hard  to  say  how.  but  pro- 
bably by  some  convenient  allegorizing — such  passages 
as  were  understood  to  assert  a  life  after  death,  and  a 
world  above  and  beyond  the  senses ; — "  the  Sadducees 
» say  that  there  is  no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor 
spirit."  Now  the  two  methods  of  modern  Rationalism 
are  to  call  in  question,  wherever  it  can.  the  genuineness 
of  much  which  has  hitherto  passed  as  Holy  Scripture, 
ami,  where  it  cannot  do  this,  to  offer  natural  explanations 
of  the  supernatural,  and  to  regard  the  narrative,  where 
it  presents  difficulties,  not  as  historical  in  the  strict 
sense,  but  as  an  instructive  legend  or  fable.  And  the 
fundamental  fallacy  of  all  such  methods  will  be  found  to 
be  an  entirely  wrong  and  derogatory  mental  attitude 
taken  up  at  the  outset  towards  what  the  Church 
presents  to  us  as  the  Word  of  God.  That  Word  is 
conceived  of  as  an  ordinary  book,  to  be  subjected  to 
criticism  of  exactly  the  same  kind  as  that  which  is 
applied  to  Livy,  or  Herodotus,  or  Homer,  by  way  of 
discriminating  the  genuine  from  the  spurious,  the  au- 
thentic from  the  fictitious.  The  student  is  not  in  the 
cell  of  an  oracle,  listening  devoutly  on  his  knees  for  the 
response  of  the  Deity,  but  in  the  dissecting  room  of  an 
anatomist,  going  to  work  with  the  scalpel  upon  a  body 
which  he  conceives  of  as  dead,  but  which  really  in  the 
minutest  member  of  it  is  instinct  with  the  Divine 
Life, — the  breath  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  WThen  shall  wt- 


x  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

learn  that  no  profit  is  to  be  had  from  God's  Oracles,— 
aye,  and  no  progress  to  be  made  in  the  right  under- 
standing of  them — unless  they  are  approached  in  quite 
a  different  spirit  1  "  When  ye  received  the  word  of  God 
which  ye  heard  of  us,  YE  RECEIVED  IT  NOT  AS  THE  WORD 

OF  MEN,  BUT  AS  IT  IS  IN  TRUTH,  THE  WORD  OF  GOD, 
WHICH  EFFECTUALLY  WORKETH  ALSO  IN  YOU  THAT 
BELIEVE." 

Now  this  view  of  Holy  Scripture  as,  in  virtue  of  its 
having  been  "  given  by  Inspiration  of  God."  altogether 
unique  in  its  character  and  its  claims  upon  mankind, 
Burgon  stoutly  and  consistently  defended  in  our  time 
against  the  underminings  and  corrosions  of  Rationalism, 
bringing  to  the  defence,  as  has  been  said,  (what  thousands 
of  those  who  entirely  concur  with  his  views  have  not 
to  bring,)  talents,  accomplishments,  and  learning  of  the 
highest  order,  and  that  patient  indefatigable  industry  of 
research,  which  never  jumps  prematurely  at  conclusions, 
however  attractive,  but  toils  and  plods  on,  in  the 
assurance  that  the  highest  Wisdom  reveals  herself  only 
to  those  who  bestow  upon  her  the  miner's  toil,  "  seeking 
her  as  silver,  and  searching  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures." 
That  in  protesting  for  the  grand  truth,  to  the  main- 
tenance of  which  he  consecrated  his  life,  he  was  guilty 
of  occasional  extravagances  ;  that  the  very  impetuosity 
of  his  zeal  for  the  integrity  of  God's  Word  and  its  para- 
mount claims  carried  him  away  now  and  then  into  sallies 
of  the  pen,  which  it  would  have  been  better  to  restrain, 
and  perhaps  sometimes  led  him  to  take  up  positions  not 
altogether  defensible, — may  be  freely  admitted,  without 


PREFACE.  xi 

in  the  least  disparaging  the  value  of  the  great  work 
which  he  did,  or  the  grandeur  of  the  position  which  he 
held,  as  the  brave  champion  in  a  rationalizing  genera- 
tion of  God's  Inspired  Word.  No  great  cause  was  ever 
maintained  successfully  without  infirmities  of  temper 
and  extravagances  of  statement  in  its  champions.  The 
Reformation  might  have  been  strangled  in  its  birth,  had 
it  not  been  for  Luther.  But  few  indeed  of  those  who 
acknowledge  the  deep  indebtedness  of  the  Reformed 
Church  to  Luther,  would  care  to  defend  all  his  para- 
doxical assertions  about  good  works,  or  the  slur  passed 
by  him  upon  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  as  "  an  epistle  of 
straw." 

Moreover,  in  a  state  of  society,  when  a  fresh  originality 
of  character  seems,  under  the  levelling  tendencies  of  the 
day,  to  have  become  almost  extinct  among  us,  a  strong 
vivid  individuality,  like  that  of  John  William  Burgon — 
especially  when  it  is  an  individuality  which  has  con- 
secrated itself  to  a  grand  cause, — seems  to  deserve  a 
distinct  and  detailed  record.  The  very  circumstances 
of  Burgon's  birth  and  breeding  contributed  to  give  him 
an  originality  of  character  possessed  by  few  indeed 
among  the  English  clergy  of  his  day.  Of  foreign  ex- 
traction by  the  mother's  side,  with  a  strong  infusion  of 
Smyrniote  blood  in  him  (which  of  itself  accounts  to  a 
great  extent  for  that  perfervidv.  m  higenium  of  his,  which 
was  always  breaking  forth) ;  destined  originally  for  a 
mercantile  life,  and  leading  it  till  he  had  attained  an  age, 
ten  years  in  advance  of  that  at  which  young  English- 
men usually  go  to  College  ;  familiar  too,  long  before 


xii  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

he  came  up  to  Oxford,  with  poets,  artists,  archaeologists, 
literary  men, — his  antecedents,  so  entirely  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary groove,  gave  a  peculiar  complexion  to  his  character 
throughout  life,  and  made  other  men,  however  gifted, 
more  or  less  tame  in  comparison  with  him.  But  quite 
independently  of  external  circumstances,  which  may 
have  contributed  to  form  his  character,  the  character 
itself  was  one  of  great  originality,  with  a  vivid  colour, 
and  an  indomitable  force  of  will  all  its  own.  This  force 
of  will,  while  it  gave  him  a  tenacity  of  purpose  in  carry- 
ing into  effect  everything  he  undertook,  by  its  very 
unyieldingness  failed  entirely  to  carry  others  with  it. 
Compromise  was  a  word  unknown  to  him  ;  he  was  in- 
capable of  making  the  smallest  concession  to  those  who 
differed  from  him ;  perfectly  assured  of  the  truth  of  his 
own  conclusions,  he  was  also  perfectly  assured  that  those 
who  arrived  at  different  conclusions  were  in  the  wrong  ; 
and  therefore  he  stood  and  acted  alone,  and  never  had  (as 
indeed  he  never  cared  to  have)  a  following  among  his 
equals.  Never,  it  is  thought,  were  two  members  of  the 
same  Communion  so  singularly  contrasted  in  character 
as  he  and  Archbishop  Tait,  whose  biographers  have 
recently  presented  the  Church  and  the  world  with  so 
faithful  and  so  graphic  a  portraiture  of  that  very  con- 
siderable figure  in  the  English  Church  of  our  day.  Here 
was  a  born  ruler  of  men,  a  man  who  had  the  secret  of 
carrying  his  own  point  with  others,  but  carrying  it  (as 
only  it  can  be  carried  in  a  free  society,  every  member  of 
which  has  a  voice  of  his  own,)  by  conceding  whatever 
he  did  not  think  to  involve  a  vital  principle,  in  order  that 


PREFACE.  xiii 

what  was  vital  might  be  maintained  and  preserved.  Thus 
the  Archbishop  became  a  great  social  force,  not  only 
in  the  Church,  but  in  the  State; — his  weight  was  dis- 
tinctly felt,  and  consciously  acknowledged,  in  the  Upper 
Chamber  of  the  Legislature.  The  Dean,  though  ardently 
beloved  and  profoundly  revered  by  his  disciples,  was  no 
social  force  at  all.  His  work  lay  in  literature,  not 
in  affairs.  He  attracted  by  overwhelming  kindness  ; 
he  attached  others  by  the  strongest  ties  of  gratitude, 
affection,  sympathy ;  but  he  was  no  wielder  of  move- 
ments, nor  leader  of  men ;  God  had  not  formed  him 
to  be  so.  Other  points  of  vivid  contrast  between  the 
two  characters  will  probably  strike  those  who  were 
acquainted  with  both  men, — such  as  the  calm,  deliberate 
judgment  of  the  one,  the  passionate  impulsiveness  of  the 
other ;  the  phlegmatic  temperament  of  the  one,  the 
excessive  sensibility  of  the  other ;  the  ultra-Liberalism 
of  the  one,  the  old-fashioned  Toryism  (not  only  by  he- 
reditary sentiment,  but  also  by  mental  constitution)  of 
the  other  ;  the  somewhat  prosaic,  unaesthetic  mind  of  the 
one,  and  the  exuberant  poetry,  romance,  and  artistic  pro- 
clivities of  the  other ; — contrasts  which  cease  only  when 
one  reaches  the  lowest  deep  of  both  characters,  where 
it  is  seen  clearly  enough  that  both  were  men  of  prayer, 
and  both  men  of  God.  And  when  the  survey  both  of 
the  contrasts  and  of  the  fundamental  harmony  is  com- 
pleted, the  truth  is  realised  of  that  profound  and  weighty 
saying  of  the  Apostle's ;  "  Now  there  are  diversities  of 
gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit.  And  there  are  differences  of 
administrations,  but  the  same  Lord.  And  there  are 


xiv  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBOON. 

diversities  of  operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which 
worketh  all  in  all." 

But  putting  on  one  side  the  interest  of  the  character 
which  it  is  the  purpose  of  these  pages  to  depict,  the 
author  ventures  to  hope  that  the  work  may  be  regarded 
as  a  humble  contribution  to  the  Church  history  of  our 
times — times  characterized  by  a  restless  fermentation  of 
thought  on  all  religious  questions,  and  by  the  equally 
restless  movement  which  must  always  follow  upon  such 
fermentation.  If  the  review  of  these  times  has  been  in 
the  main  a  saddening  one,  if  the  movements  and  changes 
have  seemed  to  take  a  wrong  direction,  and  if  at  present 
the  outlook  upon  religious  thought  in  this  country  is 
as  dismal  as  it  well  can  be,  Rationalism  speaking  out 
more  confidently  than  ever  its  insinuations  as  to  the 
fallibility  both  of  the  written  and  the  Personal  Word  of 
God,  writer  and  reader  alike  must  console  themselves 
with  the  thought  that  a  deference  is  due  to  accomplished 
facts,  as  having  been,  even  when  calamitous,  brought 
about  in  the  order  of  Divine  Providence  (as  punishments, 
it  may  be,  of  the  Church's  sin)  ;  and  that  there  are  still  the 
"seven  thousand  in  Israel,"  "  the  remnant  according  to 
the  election  of  grace,"  who  value  the  Inspired  Volume  of 
Holy  Scripture  above  all  earthly  treasure,  and  whose 
simple  child-like  faith  in  its  testimonies  is  proof  against 
all  the  suggestions  of  its  fallibility  thrown  out  by  the 
(so-called)  Higher  Criticism.  In  the  hearts  of  all  such 
persons  the  memory  of  John  William  Burgon  will  be 
embalmed  for  ever. 

In   concluding  this   Preface,   the   author   desires    to 


PREFA  CE.  xv 

remind  the  reader  that  Burgon  himself  has  not  yet  said 
his  last  word  on  the  subject  nearest  his  heart.  The 
Church  yet  anticipates  the  great  work,  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  which  he  devoted  the  better  part  of  his  life,  but 
which  he  was  not  permitted  to  complete, — his  "  Exposi- 
tion of  the  true  principles  of  the  Textual  Criticism  of  tin- 
New  Testament,  and  the  Vindication  ami  Establishment  of 
the  Traditional  Text  by  the  application  of  those  principle*" 
It  is  confidently  expected  that  this  work,  now  in  pro- 
cess of  completion  under  the  able  editorship  of  the 
Reverend  Edward  Miller,  will,  when  it  makes  its  ap- 
pearance, set  its  seal  upon  the  fame  of  Purgon  as  a 
Textual  Critic  of  the  highest  order,  equally  indefatig- 
able in  research,  cautious  in  judgment,  and  keen  in 
acumen. 

The  enthusiastic  affection,  which  Burgon  inspired  in 
those  who  knew  him  well,  and  came  under  his  influence, 
has  been  the  means  of  procuring  for  the  author  a  vast  mass 
of  materials,  both  in  the  shape  of  letters,  and  written  con- 
tributions ;    and   he   is   quite  sensible   that  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  interest  of  his  work  is  due  not  to 
his  own  share  in  it,  but  to  communications  made  to  him 
by  the  friends  of  the  deceased.      To  enumerate  all  those 
who  have  made  these  helpful  communications  to  him. 
would  be  to  fill  several  pages  with  names,  and  thus  materi- 
ally to  lengthen  the  Preface.  Let  it  suffice,  while  cordially 
thanking  all    contributors,    whatever  shape   their    con- 
tributions may  have  taken,  to  acknowledge  his  special 
obligations  to  Mr.  Robert  Harry  Inglis  Palgrave,  of  Great 
Yarmouth,  the  letters  lent  by  whom  (addressed  to  the 


xvi  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

late  Mr.  Dawson  Turner)  will  be  found  to  constitute 
the  chief  interest  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  work  ;  to 
Mrs.  Samuel  Bickersteth,  a  typical  disciple  of  Burgon's, 
whose  letters  to  her  show,  better  than  any  description 
can  do,  the  affectionate  ties  which  bound  him  to  the 
younger  members  of  his  flock ;  to  the  Venerable  Arch- 
deacon Palmer,  who  has  given  all  sorts  of  aid,  in- 
cluding a  most  able  and  interesting  paper  upon  Burgon's 
ministry  at  Finmere ;  to  the  Reverend  R.  G.  Living- 
stone, Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Pembroke  College,  Oxford, 
who,  like  other  of  Burgon's  former  curates,  writes  with 
a  warmth  of  affection  and  liveliness  of  appreciation 
about  him,  which  shows  what  he  was  to  his  colleagues 
in  the  Ministry ;  to  the  Reverend  Alfred  Hensley,  of 
Cotgrave  Rectory,  his  earliest  Oxford  friend,  who,  de- 
spite some  differences  of  opinion,  clung  to  him  to  the  last 
with  unabated  affection  ;  and  to  Lord  Cranbrook,  who 
had  the  discrimination  to  see  his  singular  merits,  and 
the  claims  which  he  had  established  upon  the  gratitude 
both  of  the  Church  of  England  and  the  University  of 
Oxford,  and  who  was  doubtless  the  means  of  procuring 
for  him  some  recognition  of  these  claims,  in  the  very 
modest  preferment  to  which  quite  late  in  life  he 
attained. 

We,  his  friends,  deeply  deplore  him,  not  only  from  the 
warm  personal  love  which  we  entertained  for  him,  but  also 
from  its  seeming  to  us,  in  our  purblind  view  of  capacities 
and  coming  emergencies,  that  in  the  great  struggle  which 
is  impending  for  the  genuineness,  authenticity,  and  in- 
fallibility of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  was  the  man,  who 


PREFACE.  xvii 

from  his  studies,  his  genius,  his  faithfulness,  could 
most  effectively  have  helped  the  cause  of  Divine  Truth. 
But  be  we  assured  it  is  best  as  it  is.  As  regards  the 
cause,  God  has  many  other  arrows  in  His  quiver,  and 
can  and  will  raise  up  "  the  man  of  His  right  hand,"  and 
"  make  him  strong  for  His  own  self."  And  as  regards 
our  friend, — while  we  have  lost,  not  indeed  his  sym- 
pathy nor  his  prayers,  but  his  counsel,  and  that  access 
to  him  which  was  so  enlivening  and  so  edifying, — it  is 
our  comfort  to  think  that  he  has  been  spared  from 
witnessing  the  more  recent  developments  of  a  Rational- 
ising Criticism  and  a  Latitudinarianising  Theology, 
and  that 

THE  RIGHTEOUS  is  TAKEN  AWAY  FKOM  THE  EVIL 
TO  COME. 


BBIGHTON, 

September  18,  1891. 


VOL.  I. 


CONTEXTS  OF  VOL.   I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

THE  EARLY  LIFE        .......          i 

(From  his  Birth  [Aug.  21,  1813]  to  his  Matriculation  at 
Oxford  [Oct.  21,  1841].) 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  FIRST  PERIOD     .         .         .         .114 

(From  his  Matriculation  [Oct.  21,  1841]  to  his  Admission 
into  the  Order  of  Deacons  [Dec.  24,  1848].) 

THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD  .         .         .         .162 

\v.-t  IlsK-y,  Worton,  and  Fininere  [Dec.  24,  i848-June  6, 

1853]-) 

THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD    .         .         .         .219 

(From  his  leaving  Finmere  [June  6,  1853]  to  the  commence- 
ment of  his  tour  in  Egypt,  the  Arabian  Desert,  and 
Palestine  [Sept.  10,  1861].) 

THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  FOURTH  PERIOD  .         .         .292 

(Tour  in  Egypt,  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  and  Palestine 
[Sept.  10,  i86i-July  18,  1862].) 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EASLT   LIFE. 

From  his  Birth  [Aug.  21,  1813]  to  his  Matriculation  at 
Oxford  [Oct.  21,  1841.] 

IT  is  usual  to  begin  a  Biography  with  some  notice  of 
the  ancestry  of  the  person  whose  life  is  to  be  recorded. 
If  a  prelude  of  this  sort  is  in  any  and  every  case  suitable 
and  appropriate,  much  more  so  is  it  in  the  case  of  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  JOHN  WILLIAM  BURGOX.  For 
with  many  other  striking  characteristics  he  combined  a 
perfect  passion  for  pedigrees,  and  a  remarkable  industry 
in  the  investigation  of  them.  Among  many  other  works 
of  a  character  wholly  dissimilar,  he  has  left  behind  him 
a  series  of  papers  which  he  entitled  "  Parentalia,"  being 
the  results  of  a  research  into  the  pedigrees  of  his  father 
and  mother  ;  a  research  to  which,  besides  prosecuting  it 
at  odd  moments,  he  devoted  a  tour  in  the  West  Riding 
of  Yorkshire  during  the  autumn  of  1840.  In  a  letter 
descriptive  of  this  tour,  which  he  addressed  to  his  great 
friend  Mr.  Dawson  Turner,  of  Great  Yarmouth,  under 
date  Dec.  2,  1840,  other  extracts  from  which  will  be 
given  lower  down,  he  writes : — 

"  At  the  risk  of  being  laughed  at,  I  must  tell  you  what 
I  principally  wished  to  do,  in  taking  the  queer  tour  I  am 
going  to  describe.  Without  such  an  explanation,  you 
will  set  me  down  for  a  tasteless  ass,  with  all  the  world 

VOL.  I.  B 


2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

before  me.  to  select  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire  for  the 
scene  of  my  summer  pilgrimage.  I  wished  to  fill  up  the 
wanting  links  in  my  pedigree,  and  to  investigate  the 
history  of  my  worshipful  progenitors  by  a  local  inspec- 
tion of  wills,  parish  registers,  and  the  like.  So  with 
a  little  portfolio  of  memoranda  collected  in  previous 
years,  a  map,  and  my  sketching  apparatus,  I  started ; 
and  Tom"  [his  younger  brother]  "was  the  companion 
of  my  wanderings  aforesaid." 

This  tour  added  considerably  to  the  genealogical  par- 
ticulars respecting  his  ancestry,  which  he  had  been  for 
several  years  previously  engaged  in  collecting ;  and  the 
fresh  particulars  were  incorporated  in  the  "  Parentalia." 
After  a  lengthy  introduction,  telling  his  reader  how  he 
was  first  "  put  on  the  right  scent "  in  his  genealogical 
researches  ;  how  difficult  any  such  work  proves  "  when 
accuracy  and  detail  are  aimed  at "  ("  the  age  of  a  maiden 
aunt  being  sometimes  as  great  a  mystery  as  any  of  an- 
cient Eleusis  ")  ;  how  much  still  remains  to  be  done  by 
him  in  the  way  of  research  "  at  Doctors'  Commons,  at  the 
Rolls'  Chapel,  and  other  similar  repositories  "  ;  and  how 
he  is  "  wholly  unable  to  sympathize  with  men  who  are 
strangers  to  an  interest "  in  such  enquiries,  he  divides  his 
subject  thus :  "  My  plan  is  simply  this.  My  prefatory 
matter  is  followed  by  (i)  a  dissertation  on  our  family 
name  ;  (2)  some  account  of  the  several  families  who  have 
borne  that  surname  ;  (3)  some  account  of  our  own  family. 
This  genealogical  and  biographical  sketch  is  accompanied 
by  a  pedigree  and  abstracts  of  wills,  etc.  Then  comes  a 
short  account  of  the  De  Cramer  family  "  [his  mother's] ; 

"  then  of  the  Johnson  family,  and  the  families  of 

Murdoch  and  Broomer ; then  of  Eyre.     After  which 

come  some  notices  of  Rose.  These  are  followed  by  a 
series  of  pedigrees  of  Burgon,  from  which  a  collateral 
descent  alone  is  to  be  traced."  He  labours  learnedly  to 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  3 

prove  that  the  name  Burgon,  or  Le  Burgon.  "  simply 
signifies  '  the  Burgundian,'  the  native  of  Bourgogne  or 
Burgundy."  From  the  mass  of  "  Dryasdust "  genea- 
logical details  there  emerges  every  now  and  then  (as 
could  not  fail  to  be  the  case  with  one  so  brimful  of  sen- 
timent) the  sentiment  of  the  writer ;  as,  when  he  comes 
to  the  Burgons  of  Silkstone,  in  the  West  Riding  of  York- 
shire (<;  a  village,"  as  he  writes  to  Mr.  Dawson  Turner; 
"  degraded  by  its  coal-mine,  and  by  the  vices  such  a 
neighbour  is  ever  productive  of  ")  ; 

"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  think  that  Silk-stone  was  the  first 
parish  in  this  part  of  Yorkshire  which  was  christianized, 
— that  from  this  spot,  as  from  a  centre,  the  rays  of 
Gospel-light  first  disseminated  themselves  over  the 
neighbourhood.  My  forefathers  therefore  enjoyed  in 
a  peculiar  degree  the  priviledges  "  (in  these  early  days 
he  always  spells  the  word  thus,  as  was  the  fashion 
formerly),  "  and  dwelt  among  the  hills  which  were  first 
imprinted  by  '  the  beautiful  feet  of  them  who  preach  the 
Gospel  of  peace.' '' 

He  has  not  put  upon  record  anything  remarkable  as 
to  his  ancestry  on  the  father's  side ;  but  as  to  his  mother's 
father,  the  Chevalier  de  Cramer,  Austrian  consul  at 
Smyrna  (who  was  born  at  Cologne,  Feb.  10,  1757,  and 
died  at  Smyrna,  Nov.  9,  1 809),  he  tells  this  story,  which 
will  be  read  with  interest  for  its  own  sake,  and  more 
especially  in  connexion  with  the  character  of  the  teller. 
The  Chevalier's  antecedents  were  these  : — Meeting  with 
•indifferent  success  in  commerce,  he  changed  his  line  of 
life,  and  having  been  thrown  across  an  American  gentle- 
man (one  Isaac  Cramer1),  who  took  a  strong  fancy  to 

1  The  original  form  of  the  Cheva-  Cramer, — a  process  easily  effected 
lier's  name  was  Cremer ;  but  Isaac  by  the  change  of  a  single  vowel. 
Cramer  made  him  his  heir  on  con-  The  change,  however,  was  duly 
dition  of  his  taking  the  name  of  legalized. 

B  2 


4  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

him,  and  furnished  him  with  the  necessary  funds,  he 
studied  law  and  diplomacy  at  the  University  of  Vienna, 
and  so  distinguished  himself  in  this  more  congenial 
sphere,  that  in  1777  he  was  appointed  Austrian  Consul 
at  Smyrna.  How  he  became  Chevalier  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  anecdote,  given  in  one  of  the  notes  to  the 
'•'  Parentalia." 

"  When  Napoleon  was  at  Jaffa  "  [March  4  to  14, 1799], 
"  the  French  Church  of  St.  Polycarp  at  Smyrna  was 
treated  by  the  Turks  as  part  of  the  spoil  of  the  enemy. 
Karasman  Oglu 2,  claiming  to  be  the  lawful  proprietor  of 
the  church  by  right  of  conquest,  sold  it  to  the  Greeks  for 
the  sum  of  50,000  thalers,  30,000  of  which  were  actually 
paid  into  his  hands  by  the  Greek  purchaser.  A  few 
Turkish  soldiers  had  already  entered  the  church,  and 
seated  themselves  upon  the  altars.  At  this  juncture 
intelligence  of  the  outrage  was  brought  to  my  grand- 
father by  the  Cure  of  the  church.  '  Sir,'  he  said,  '  there 
is  no  French  Consul  here  for  me  to  apply  to.  To  him  of 
right  would  belong  the  duty  of  defending  this  church  from 
sacrilegious  invasion.  But  your  faith  supplies  a  suffi- 
cient reason  why  you  should  stand  forth  as  the  defender  of 
the  Church  of  St.  Polycarp.'  Not  an  instant  was  to  be 
lost.  My  grandfather  had  not  even  time  to  draw  on  his 


2  Readers  of  Byron  will  be  re-  First  of  the  bold  Timariot  bands, 

minded  of  Giaffir's  recommendation  That  won  and  well  can  keep  their 
to  Zuleika  (in  "  The  Bride  of  Aby-  lands. 

dos ")    of   the  bridegroom  he   had  Enough  that  he  who  comes  to  woo 

selected  for  her, — a  kinsman  of  this  Is  kinsman  of  the  Bey  Oglou." 
very  "  Karasman  Oglu."  The  Qote  OQ  thig  pasgage  says  . 

"  a  braver  man  "  Carasman  Oglou,  or  Kara  Os- 

Was  never  seen  in  battle's  van.  man  Oglou,  is  the  principal  land- 

We  Moslem  reck  not  much  of  owner  in  Turkey ;  he  governs 

blood ;  Magnesia.  Those  who,  by  a  kind 

But  yet  the  line  of  Carasman  of  feudal  tenure,  possess  land  on 

Unchanged,  unchangeable  hath  condition  of  service,  are  called 

stood  Timariots." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  5 

boots.  He  hastily  put  on  his  uniform,  and  seizing  the 
Austrian  banner,  repaired  alone  to  the  scene  of  outrage. 
He  quickly  drove  out  the  one  or  two  Turks,  whom  he 
found  within  the  sacred  edifice,  and  took  up  his  station 
on  the  threshold,  grasping  the  Austrian  flag,  while  the 
banner  of  France  floated  about  him.  It  was  not  long 
before  Karasman  Oglu  appeared  in  person,  attended  by 
about  two  hundred  Janissaries.  Finding  the  entrance  of 
the  church  so  guarded,  he  called  upon  my  grandfather 
instantly  to  withdraw.  The  other  refused.  '  This  church,' 
said  the  Turkish  Prince,  '  was  French  property,  and  by 
right  of  conquest  has  become  mine.'  The  other  replied 
that  a  possession  of  the  Church  cannot  change  hands  like 
a  secular  estate,  and  may  on  no  account  be  forfeited. 
The  Turk  advised  the  other  not  to  resort  to  extremities, 
declaring  that  he  was  resolved  to  obtain  possession  of  an 
edifice  which  he  had  already  sold.  My  grandfather  for 
all  reply  drew  his  sword,  and  vowed  that  no  one  should 
enter  that  church  except  by  pulling  down  the  Austrian 
banner,  nor  cross  that  threshold  except  over  his  dead 
body.  His  firmness  triumphed.  He  saved  the  church  of 
St.  Polycarp,  and  won  for  himself  the  abiding  friendship 
of  Karasman  Oglu,  who.  by  the  way,  refused  to  refund 
the  30,000  thalers,  declaring  they  were  the  price  of  the 
trouble  he  had  already  taken  in  the  affair,  20,000  thalers 
more  being  required  for  the  actual  transfer  of  the  pro- 
perty. When  the  story  of  his  heroism  was  related  to 
the  Pope,  my  grandfather  was  created  a  count  of  Rome  3. 
To  this  day,  on  the  anniversary  of  its  rescue  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  infidels,  a  Mass  is  celebrated  in  the  church 
of  St.  Polycarp  to  the  memory  of  Ambroise  Hermann 
de  Cramer." 

It  is  impossible  for  anyone  who  knew  John  William 
Burgon  not  to   recognise  in  him  that  chivalrous  gal- 


3  In  a  note  to  the  "Parentalia"  Pope  Pius  VII,  dated  3Oth  Sept., 

he    says;    "My   maternal    grand-  1802,  was   created  a   Chevalier  of 

father  received  his  lettre*  de  noblesse  the  Order  of  Christ." 
28th  Feb.,  1800;  and  by  a  Bull  of 


6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

lantry,  that  utter  carelessness  of  what  might  be  the 
consequences  of  a  generous  action  to  himself,  which  had 
come  down  to  him  in  the  current  of  the  Chevalier's 
blood.  He  was  just  the  man,  had  he  been  a  soldier,  to 
have  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  forlorn  hope,  and, 
grasping  the  banner  of  England,  to  lead  it  into  the 
breach.  He  has  been  called,  with  something  approaching 
to  a  sneer,  "  the  champion  of  impossible  orthodoxies." 
Substituting  for  the  word  "  impossible,"  "  offering  diffi- 
culties to  belief"  (as  what  really  orthodox  creed  does 
not  ?  the  difficulties  of  belief  are  the  trial  to  which  God 
submits  our  faith),  we  his  friends,  who  mourn  his  loss, 
not  for  our  own  sake  only,  but  still  more  for  that  of 
the  Church,  accept  that  description  of  him.  In  the 
true  spirit  of  his  maternal  grandfather  he  planted 
himself  resolutely  in  the  doorway  of  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Faith,  and  grasping  the  banner  of  Divine  Truth, 
he  vowed  that  the  rationalist's  desecrating  foot  should 
never  enter,  except  by  pulling  down  the  banner, 
"  nor  cross  that  threshold  except  over  his  own  dead 
body." 

There  was  another  person  of  some  mark  among  his 
ancestry,  of  whom  something  may  here  be  said, — his 
mother's  aunt,  Mrs.  Baldwin  (nee  Maltass),  of  whom  he 
himself  wrote  an  obituary  notice  in,  the  '  Gentleman  s 
Magazine'  for  December,  1839.  The  extraordinary 
beauty  of  this  lady, — whose  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  with  an  ancient  coin  of  Smyrna  (her  native 
place)  in  her  hand,  is  still  to  be  seen  in  Lord  Lans- 
downe's  gallery  at  Bowood, — created  a  great  sensation, 
both  at  Vienna  and  in  London,  procured  for  her  atten- 
tions from  the  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  George  IV, 

7  O 

and  elicited  even  from  Dr.  Johnson  a  burst  of  clumsy 
amorousness. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  7 

"In  all  the  pride  of  youth  and  beauty,"  writes 
her  great  nephew  to  the  '  (jenth-manx  Magazine ,'  "  she 
was  brought  before  the  aged  and  infirm  sage,  whose 
curiosity  had  been  aroused  by  the  story  of  her  foreign 
birth,  and  residence  in  distant  lands.  Johnson  asked 
her  what  was  the  colour  of  the  Abyssinians?  Mrs. 
Baldwin  replied  that  she  did  not  know.  '  But  what 
colour  do  you  think  they  are1?'  persisted  the  author  of 
Rasselas.  After  some  hesitation,  and  renewed  professions 
of  utter  ignorance  on  the  subject,  Mrs.  Baldwin  said  that 
she  supposed  they  were  brown.  The  doctor  next  said 
that  he  should  like  to  give  her  a  kiss ;  and  the  husband's 
permission  having  been  obtained,  a  kiss  was  formally 
inflicted.  Mrs.  Baldwin  could  never  forget  the  for- 
bidding exterior  of  her  Platonic  admirer,  and  the  servile 
adulation  of  his  future  biographer." 

Mrs.  Baldwin  had  infirmities  of  temper,  it  appears  (for 
which,  however,  great  excuses  and  allowances  were  made 
by  those  acquainted  with  her  circumstances),  and  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Dawson  Turner,  accompanying  the  obituary 
sketch  above  cited,  her  nephew,  who,  "  knowing  that  she 
was  living  quite  alone,  and  but  indifferently  off,  used  to 
pay  her  a  periodical  visit,"  describes  amusingly  how  the 
loss  of  a  penny  had  on  one  occasion  made  her  violate  the 
son  of  Sirach's  precept,  "  Be  not  as  a  lion  in  thy  house, 
nor  frantic  among  thy  servants."  She  was  storming  at 
her  maidservant.  "  On  such  occasions  I  used  to  sit 
quietly  and  say  nothing ;  for  though  I  verily  believe 
she  loved  me  exceedingly  (simply  because  I  used  always 
to  be  very  respectful  to  her),  I  dared  not  begin  any 
buffoonery,  such  as  '  Well,  Aunt ;  it  certainly  is  a  very 
bad  business,  but  I'll  soon  find  it  for  you/  and  then  by 
a  piece  of  legerdemain  fumble  a  penny  out  of  my  pocket ; 
for  she  was  so  sensitive,  so  extremely  shrewd,  so  clear 
sighted  in  spite  of  her  obliquity  of  mental  vision,  so 
clever  in  spite  of  all  her  absurdities,  that  one  would 


8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

have  been  infallibly  detected,  and,  if  detected,  rebuked 
in  the  manner  one  does  not  like  to  be  rebuked  by 
a  woman,  young  or  old."  He  dutifully  accounts  for 
these  occasional  outbursts  by  her  having  been  alter- 
nately spoiled  by  adulation,  and  soured  by  unkindness  ; 
but  doubtless  she  was  naturally  a  woman  of  strong  and 
passionate  temper, —  and  those  who  love  him  best,  and 
esteem  him  most,  will  be  the  last  to  deny  that  he  too 
inherited  a  share  of  this  characteristic  of  his  mother's 
family,  while  entirely  free  at  all  times  from  resentment 
and  personal  dislike. 

But  to  come  to  his  immediate  progenitors. 

JOHN  WILLIAM  BUKGON  was  born  at  Smyrna,  August 
21,  1813.  His  parents  were  Thomas  Burgon,  of  London, 
merchant  (born  Aug.  i,  1787),  and  Catharine  Marguerite 
de  Cramer4  (born  Aug.  7, 1790),  eldest  daughter  and  child 
of  the  Chevalier  Ambroise  Hermann  de  Cramer,  Austrian 
Consul  at  Smyrna  (some  particulars  of  whose  life  have 

4  It  may  be  convenient  here  to  family  who  are   mentioned   or  al- 

give  a  pedigree  of  the  descendants  hided  to  in  this  narrative,  as  also 

of  Mr.   and  Mrs.  Thomas  Burgon,  to  show  who  are  its  present  repre- 

in  reference  to  the  members  of  the  sentatives. 

Thomas  Burgon,  Esq.,   =p    Catharine  Marguerite  de 


6.  Aug.  I,  1787, 
d.  Aug.  28,  1858. 


Cramer, 
b.  Aug.  7, 1790,  d.  Sept.  7, 1854. 


Sarah  Caroline      JOHN          Thomas  Emily          Helen  Catharine 

Burgon*,        WILLIAM,  Charles,  Mary,          Eliza b,  Margaret, 

fc.Julyi,      b.  Aug.  21,  b.  June  25,  b.  Feb.  1 6,  b.  May  28,  6.  Oct.  27, 

1812,             1813,              1816,  1819,            1823.               1828, 

d.  Apr.  6,     d.  Aug.  4,  d.  Feb.  14,  d.  May  6,  d.  Apr.  28, 

1889.             1888.              1872.  1871.                                   1836. 

»  Married  (May  24, 1838)  to  the  Rev.  Henry  John  Rose,  Rector  of  Houghton  Con- 
quest and  afterwards  (1866)  Archdeacon  of  Bedford,  who  died  Jan.  31, 1873.  They  had 
five  children,  four  of  whom  survive,— Emily  Susannah,  Hugh  James  [d.  1878],  William 
Francis  (Vicar  of  Worle),  Anna  Caroline,  Gertrude  Mary. 

b  Married  (July  26,  1853)  to  Charles  Longuet  Higgins,  Esq.,  of  Turvey  Abbey, 
Beds. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  9 

been  given  above),  by  Sarah  Maltass,  daughter  of 
William  Maltass  5,  a  merchant  of  Smyrna.  Mr.  Thomas 
Burgon's  family  had  for  many  years  been  connected  with 
the  commerce  of  the  City  of  London.  He  was  a  Turkey 
merchant,  and  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Assistants  of  the 
Levant  Company,  which  position  gave  him  a  voice  in  the 
management  of  the  Company's  affairs  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  its  officers.  The  Company,  while  it  existed, 
enjoyed  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  the  Levant;  but 
in  the  first  quarter  of  this  century  monopolies  were 
becoming  out  of  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  times; 
and  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  passed  in  1826  (6  Geo.  IV. 
cap.  83)  the  Levant  Company,  which  had  long  carried 
on  a  thriving  business,  was  abolished.  Mr.  Burgon's 
bouse,  which  was  an  old  established  one  and  had  ex- 
cellent connexions  in  the  Levant,  maintained  its  ground 
for  some  time  ;  but  the  competition  which  the  abolition 
of  the  Company  introduced  into  the  trade,  told  more 
and  more  unfavourably  upon  it,  and  having  struggled 
vainly  for  some  fifteen  years  against  losses,  which  to- 
wards the  end  of  that  time 

"huddled  on"  its  "back, 
Enough  to  press  a  royal  merchant  down, 
And  pluck  commiseration  of  his  state 
From  brassy  bosoms,  and  rough  hearts  of  flint. ;' 

5  Mrs.   Thomas   Burgon,    there-  Dean  Burgon  is  often  said  to  have 

fore,  was  on  her  mother's  side  Eng-  been    of   Greek    extraction.      But 

lish,  as   on  her   father's  Austrian.  how  ?     If  Margoton  Icard  (his  mo- 

Mrs.  Baldwin  (nte  Jane  Maltass)  ther's  maternal  grandmother)  were 

was  her  mother's  younger    sister.  Greek,  he  would  have  had  Greek 

The  mother,  however,  of  Sarah  Mai-  blood  in  his  veins.     But  probably 

tass  (afterwards  Madame  de  Cra-  the  word  Greek  is  used  loosely  to 

raer)  and  of  Jane  Maltass  (after-  denote  a  Smyrniote.     Mrs.  Thomas 

wards    Mrs.    Baldwin)     was     one  Burgon  was  a  Smyrniote,  as  having 

Margoton  Ickhard  (or,  Icard).     Of  been   born   and   bred  at    Smyrna, 

what    nationality   was    this    lady  ?  where  her  family  resided. 


io  LIFE  OF  DEAS  BUBOON. 

at  length  collapsed  in  August  1841,  and  began  to  wind 
up  its  affairs,  a  calamity  memorable  principally  for  the 
effect  it  had  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  subject  of  this 
Biography,  for,  had  it  not  occurred,  he  would  never  pro- 
bably have  felt  at  liberty  to  gratify  what  had  long  been 
the  cherished  wish  of  his  heart,  and  to  enter  the  Sacred 
Ministry  of  the  Church.  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon,  though 
in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  distracted  by  the  calls  and 
cares  of  business,  incidental  to  the  position  of  the  head  of 
a  great  mercantile  house,  made  himself,  under  the  prompt- 
ing of  a  natural  instinct,  one  of  the  most  eminent  anti- 
quarians of  his  time.  So  innate  in  him  was  the  passion 
for  research  into  the  monuments  of  antiquity,  that,  as 
a  child,  he  is  said  to  have  buried  halfpence  in  his 
father's  garden,  and  to  please  himself  with  digging  them 
up  again,  and  making  believe  that  they  were  old  coins 
discovered  by  excavation.  As  his  son  inherited  from 
him  this  propensity  for  archaeology,  and  in  his  early 
days  contributed  several  articles  to  the  '  Numismatic 
•Journal]  besides  a  paper  to  the  '  Gentleman  s  Magazine ' 
"  On  a  cairn  in  the  Isle  of  Skye 6,"  it  will  not  be  out  of 

'Here  are  two  private  memo-  [Apr.  1838].  No.  VIII.  Art.  xxvii. 

randa  of  his  own.  p.  237. 

"  My  contributions  to  Akennan's  4.  Pistrucci's  Invention  :  A  letter 

'Numismatic  Journal'  were  as  to  the  Editor  [June  1838]  Num. 

follows  : —  Chron.  No.  I.  Art.  vii.  p.  53. 

1.  Review  of  Millingen's  '  Sylloge  5.  On  the   Amelioration   of  the 
of  Ancient  Unedited  Coins  of  Greek  Coinage,  A.D.  1560  [May,   1839]. 
Cities  and  Kings'  [Oct.  1837].     No.  No.  V.  Art.  IV.  p.  12. 

VI.  Art.  xiii.  p.  81.  6.  On    a    hoard    of  Pennies    of 

2.  On  the  Current  Coins  of  Great  Henry   II.   found  in    Bedfordshire 
Britain,  considered  as  works  of  Art  [June    1839].     No.   V.   Art.    XL 
[Nov.    1837].    No-  VII.  Art  xvii.  p.  54. 

p.  121.  7.  On  a  new  Method  of  obtaining 

3.  Review   of    the    Marquis    de       Representations    of    Coins     [Jan. 
L 's '  Description  de  quelqves       1841]." 

Medailles  inedites  de  Mamlia,'  etc.          And  again ; 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  n 

place  here  to  re-produce  the  obituary  notice  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Burgon,  which  appeared  in  the  '  Athetueum'  of 
Sept.  n, 1858:— 

"In  the  death  of  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon  the  world  of 
collectors  and  connoisseurs  of  ancient  art  has  lately 
suffered  an  irreparable  loss.  He  was  long  and  honour- 
ably known  for  his  experience  and  judgment  on  matters 
connected  with  antiquities  and  painted  vases ;  but  more 
especially  in  Greek  and  Roman  metallurgy.  His  dictum 
respecting  the  genuineness  of  a  work  of  Art  belonging 
to  these  branches  was  almost  infallible,  and  not  a  few 
instances  could  be  brought  to  bear  in  which  the  judg- 
ment of  foreign  authorities  deferred  to  his.  To  classic 
learning  he  had  no  pretension;  and  all  his  scholarly 
attainments  appear  to  have  been  purely  the  result  of 
his  devotion  to  the  relics  of  antiquity.  In  early  life, 
Mr.  Burgon  was  occupied  in  commerce,  and  his  long 
residence  at  Smyrna  as  a  Greek  merchant  afforded  him 
peculiar  opportunities  of  becoming  practically  acquainted 
with  the  various  circumstances  under  which  particular 

"My  contributions  to  the  '  Gen-  "4.  A   reply   to   Bolton   Corney 

tleman's    Magazine'    are     as    fol-  (refused), 

lows  : —  5.  A  reply  to  Mr.  John   Bruce 

I.  A  memoir  of  poor  Soddington.  on  the  orthography  of  Shakspeare's 

See   the   Obituary   of    the"    [Feb.  name."    [March  1840.    Vol.  xiii.  p. 

1838.     New  Series,  vol.  ix.  p.  an.  264.  Signed,  John  William  Burgon.] 

No  signature*.]  "  6.  A    review    of    Rose's    New 

"  2.  Strictures  on  the  Review  of  General  Biographical   Dictionary." 

Tytler's  Book — Defence  of  Ty tier's  [May  1840.     Vol.  xiii.  p.  497.    No 

views."     [July     1839.      Vol.     *&•  signature.] 

New  Series,   p.    23.    "A   lover  of  "7.  A  reply  to  Mr.  Bruce's  Reply 

Historic  Truth."]  to  my  former  letter6." 

"  3.  A  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Baldwin.  "  8.  On  a  cairn  in    the   Isle    of 

See  the  Obituary  for"  [Dec.  1839.  Sky-:." 

New  Series,  vol.  xii.  p.   656.     No  "  g.  A  letter  on  D.  Turner's  book 

signature.]  of  painted  screens'1." 

•  The  insertions  in  square  brackets  are  not  in  the  original  memorandum,  the 
hiatuses  of  which  have  been  filled  up  by  a  reference  to  the  '  Gentleman't  Magazine.' 

b  [May  1840.    Vol.  xiii.  p.  474.    Signed,  John  William  Burgon.] 
«  Sky."    [Jan.  1841.    Vol.  sv.  p.  33.    Signed,  J.  W.B.] 

*  [Oct.  1841.    Vol.  ivi.  p.  375     Signed,  J.  W.  B.] 


12  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

objects  were  to  be  found.  In  his  vocation  he  was 
necessarily  a  traveller;  but  his  own  choice  may,  pro- 
bably, have  kept  him  so  much  among  the  Islands  of  the 
Archipelago.  He  was  at  one  time  as  much  an  explor- 
ator  as  a  collector,  and  his  researches  and  excavations 
in  the  Island  of  Melos  (Milo]  have  tended  considerably 
to  enrich  the  stores  of  the  British  Museum.  At  Athens, 
also,  Mr.  Burgon  carried  on  extensive  excavations,  and 
discovered  many  fine  vases,  especially  the  celebrated 
Minerva  one,  containing  burnt  bones,  with  the  inscription 
upon  it,  'Tov  'AOeveOev  'AOXov  efyu,'  from  which  the 
accidental  omission  of  a  letter  puzzled  Brondsted7  and 
all  the  learned  world  for  a  considerable  time.  His 
entire  collection  passed  some  fifteen  years  ago  to  the 
British  Museum.  Having  so  long  had  dealings  with  the 
Turks,  Mr.  Burgon  well  knew  how  to  pursue  and  to 
obtain  without  suspicion  objects  of  value  that  had  been 
discovered.  His  taste  and  judgment  on  Greek  coins  were 
unparalleled ;  and  at  an  early  period  of  his  career,  the 
eminent  connoisseur,  Payne  Knight,  whose  bronzes 
and  coins  now  form  so  important  a  part  of  the  British 
Museum,  purchased  from  him  a  handful  of  Greek  coins, 
not  indeed  for  an  enormous  price,  but  for  (at  that 
time)  a  very  large  sum.  Late  in  life  Mr.  Burgon  found 
a  quiet  retreat  in  the  Medal  Room  of  the  British 
Museum,  where  his  wonderful  memory  and  quick  detec- 
tion of  forgeries  were  of  especial  value  in  regulating  the 
numerous  acquisitions  made  by  that  department,  and 

7  The  Panathenaic  Amphora  in  [London,   A.  J.  Valpy,  M.A.], — a 

question  was  found  by  Mr.  Burgon  translation  of  which  monograph  into 

at  Athens,  near  the  old  Acharnian  French  was  the  earliest  published 

Gate,  in  the  year  of  his  eldest  son's  work  of  the  subject  of  the  present 

birth  (1813).  The  letter  accidentally  Biography.     The  whole  inscription, 

omitted   by  the   copyist   from   the  taken    out   of  the    archaic    Greek 

inscription  on  this  Amphora  is  the  spelling  (which  does  not  recognise 

third  e  of  the  word  AGevtOfv.     As  long     vowels)     runs     thus :     Twv 

the  word  appears  on  the  Amphora,  'AO-fjyjjOev  a&\fuy  tifu  ; — "  I  am  [one] 

it    is       AOtvtOv.      The     Chevalier  of  the  prizes  from  Athens."     It  is 

Brondsted    restored     the     missing  written    from   right    to    left,    like 

letter  in  his  Monograph  on  Pana-  Hebrew, 
thenaic  Vases   published  in   1832 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  13 

where  his  courtesy  and  readiness  to  convey  information 
to  visitors  will  ever  be  remembered  with  thankfulness. 
He  died  on  the  28th  of  August,  in  Burton  Crescent, 
aged  seventy-one/' 

Before  we  part  company  with  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon  it 
may  interest  the  reader  to  be  presented  with  a  short 
sketch  of  his  character  drawn  by  his  son  in  a  letter  to 
his  intimate  friend  Mr.  Fellows ;  "  He  is  very  anti- 
poetical — never  read  a  romance  in  his  life — a  high  Tory 
and  high  Churchman — the  creature  of  habit — fond  of 
matter-of-fact  reading  and  conversation — still  fonder  of 
chewing  the  cud  of  his  own  thoughts  over  his  pipe — in 
a  great  measure  self-taught — that  is  to  say  all  his  pursuits 
were  struck  out  and  followed  alone — not  too  rich — and 
having  the  care  of  a  great  business.  .  .  .  Before  quitting 
the  subject  however  I  must  tell  you  that  he  likes  and 
<-fi(<rHis  you,  and,  being  a  most  indulgent  parent — in- 
dulgent to  a  fault — in  no  way  opposes  my  fondness  for 
you  and  yours,  tho',  in  his  dry  way,  he  wonders  at 
times  what  our  correspondence  can  be  all  about." — If 
the  son  has  rightly  conceived  the  father's  character,  we 
must  suppose  that  the  strong  element  of  poetry,  senti- 
ment, and  romance,  which  was  so  marked  an  ingredient 
in  his  own  mind,  came  to  him  from  his  mother. 

Here  is  an  extract  from  '  Music  and  Friends,  or  Pleasant 
Recollections  of  a  Dilettante]  (a  work  by  William  Gardiner, 
of  Leicester,  [1838,  Longmans]),  which  gives  a  somewhat 
lively  picture  both  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burgon.  [Vol.  I,  pp. 
422-3]. 

"  Dr.  Eeid  also  introduced  me  to  his  near  neighbours, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burgon  of  Brunswick  Square.  Mr.  Burgon, 
our  Consul 8  at  Smyrna,  is  respectably  noticed  by  Clarke 

8  It  may  be  queried  whether  Mr.  Burgon  was  ever  British  Consul  at 
Smyrna.  Undoubtedly  he  was  a  Turkey  Merchant  who  had  resided  there. 


14  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

in  his  Travels  as  a  Collector  of  Grecian  Antiquities. 
He  employed  not  less  than  twenty  men  at  Athens  in 
constantly  digging  for  curiosities,  and  the  coins  he  has 
collected  are  considered  rare  and  of  great  value.  The 
impressions  of  some  are  as  fresh  as  if  just  come  from 
the  mint.  Mr.  Taylor  Cojnbe,  one  of  the  Curators  of 
the  British  Museum,  spent  the  evening  with  us,"  [at  the 
Burgons'  house  in  Brunswick  Square],  "and  I  was  much 
instructed  by  the  knowledge  he  displayed  upon  all  the 
Greek  antiquities.  He  particularly  admired  a  gold  coin 
of  Alexander,  the  helmet  in  such  high  relief  that  it 
projected  with  an  inconvenient  degree  of  sharpness. — 
He  pronounced  it  superior  to  any  one  in  the  Museum, 
and  said  it  was  worth  fifty  times  its  weight  in  gold. 
But  the  most  invaluable  of  Mr.  Burgon's  eastern 
treasures  was  his  wife,  a  native  of  Greece9.  Though  not 
beautiful,  her  form  and  manners  were  singularly  elegant. 
I  could  not  but  notice  the  peculiarity  of  the  Grecian 
outline  in  the  nose  forming  an  almost  straight  line  with 
the  forehead,  and  the  peculiar  length  of  her  neck.  She 
spoke,  with  great  facility,  most  of  the  European 
languages,  and  had  a  fine  taste  in  music.  I  tendered 
my  service  in  choosing  her  a  grand  pianoforte  at  Broad- 
wood's.  In  going  there,  I  complimented  her  upon  her 
walking,  when  to  my  surprise  she  replied ;  '  I  walk 
pretty  well,  consider  I  learn  only  tree  year.  In  my 
own  country  I  always  was  carried.'  This  lady  realised 
in  her  person  all  the  epithets  which  the  poets  of  old 
have  bestowed  upon  the  female  form  and  grace  of  the 
Circassian  women." 

Mr.  Thomas  Burgon  was  well  known  to,  and  on 
intimate  terms  with,  many  of  the  literary,  artistic,  and 
scientific  men  of  his  day.  Rogers,  the  poet,  as  will  appear 
a  little  later  in  this  chapter,  was  one  of  them ;  C.  R. 
Cockerell,  the  celebrated  architect,  another.  In  the  year 
after  John  William  Burgon's  birth  the  family  moved  from 

9  Mrs.  Burgon's  nationality  has  been  discussed  in  a  previous  note.  [See 
above,  p.  9,  note  5.]  By  "  a  native  of  Greece  "  is  meant  a  Smyrniote. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  15 

Smyrna  to  England,  stopping  at  Athens  in  their  way. 
Here  they  accidentally  encountered  Mr.  Cockerell ;  and 
the  father  showed  his  friend  with  some  pride  the  eldest 
son,  who  had  been  born  to  him  at  Smyrna  rather  more 
than  seven  months  ago.  Then  followed  a  freak  of  Mr. 
Cockerell's,  which  borrowed  part  of  its  point  from  the 
circumstance  of  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon's  having  in  the 
preceding  year  discovered  at  Athens  the  Panathena'ic 
Vase  above  referred  to,  and  gained  a  name  in  con- 
sequence among  the  savants  and  virtuosos  of  the  day. 
"  He  carried  me  up  to  the  Parthenon  on  his  shoulders  " 
(says  a  memorandum  of  the  late  Dean  Burgon's),  "and 
dedicated  me  to  Minerva  at  Athens  on  Sunday  3rd  of 
April,  1814."  And  the  perpetrator  of  the  freak  attests 
the  fact,  and  gives  it  a  happy  turn  in  the  following 
letter : — 

"  20  July,  1842. 

"  My  dear  John, — I  can  indite  nothing  more  interesting 
to  you  or  to  me  on  this  page  than  the  reminder  that 
about  the  year  1813"  [the  exact  date,  however,  is  that 
given  in  the  memorandum, — Sunday  April  3,  1814]  "I 
dedicated  you  to  the  Athenian  goddess  of  Wisdom, 
carrying  you  up  to  the  Acropolis  in  my  arms"  (it 
doubtless  was  so ;  the  child  would  be  too  young  to  sit 
on  a  man's  "  shoulders,"  though  it  may  have  been  raised 
to  that  position  for  a  moment  in  the  act  of  dedication). 
"  which  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  do  now,  and  in  company 
with  your  father  and  mother. 

"You  have  shown  me  that  my  labour  was  not  in 
vain ;  for  from  Athenian  you  have  now  devoted  yourself 
to  Divine  Wisdom,  and  I  doubt  not  will  do  credit  to 
us  all 

"Affectionately  yours, 

"C.    R.    COCKEBELL.'' 


1 6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Here  is  an  earlier  letter  to  him  from  Mr.  Cockerell, 
adverting  to  the  dedication  at  the  Parthenon,  written 
in  reference  to  his  article  in  Akerman's  'Numismatic 
Journal,'  "  On  the  Current  Coins  of  Great  Britain,  con- 
sidered as  Works  of  Art"  (Nov.  1837). 

"  My  dear  Burgon, — When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  thank- 
ing you  for  your  essay  on  our  coinage,  I  was  really  not 
qualified  (by  the  hasty  view  of  it)  to  endure  any  cross- 
questioning  on  the  subject.  Since  then  I  have  read  it 
more  carefully,  and  with  very  great  pleasure,  as  well  as 
instruction. 

"  I  think  the  criticism  most  apt  and  valuable,  and 
hope  you  will  circulate  it.  The  ideas  thrown  out  are 
ingenious,  and  often  beautiful,  and  very  creditable  to 
you.  The  justice  done  to  Pistrucci  is  also  a  worthy  act, 
though  I  think  Pistrucci  over-rated,  and  differ  with  you 
on  the  St.  George  and  Dragon  as  a  composition,  and  will 
satisfy  you  of  its  absurdity  any  day  you  please,  or  I  will 
eat  one. — Then  I  think  the  lively,  good  humoured,  and 
smart  manner  (without  flippancy)  in  which  you  have 
written  the  article  is  entirely  Platonic  (?)  \  and  a  style 
never  to  be  lost  sight  of  on  all  subjects,  because  it  is 
Athenian,  giving  '  to  science  a  milder  air,  and  making  art 
but  nature.' 

'•  Go  on  and  prosper ;  be  assured  that  these  elegant 
tastes  will  make  you  more  really  prized  and  more  really 
happy,  than  if  you  were  to  be  Lord  Mayor,  monopolizer 
of  the  Turkey  Trade,  cloathed  outside  with  fine  linen  and 
inside  with  turtle,  in  short,  than  if  you  were  a  Bashaw 
of  four  Tails.  —  I  feel  to  have  dedicated  you  to  the 
Athenian  Goddess  to  some  purpose,  and  trust  you  will 
remain  a  faithful  devotee. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"C.  K  COCKERELL." 

1  The  writer  has  doubts  whether       "  Platonic,"  his  handwriting  being 
the  word  used  by  Mr.  Cockerell  is       here  and  there  difficult  to  read. 

E.  M.  G. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  17 

It  should  perhaps  be  said,  as  even  great  reputations  do 
not  in  these  days  of  rapid  movement  long  survive,  that  Mr. 
Cockerell  was  very  eminent  as  an  architect,  and  also  as  a 
man  of  general  cultivation,  and  had  spent  many  of  his  early 
years  in  the  study  of  ancient  architectural  remains  in 
Greece.  Rome.  Sicily,  and  Asia  Minor,  from  which  circum- 
stance he  imbibed  a  predilection  for  the  classical  style  of 
architecture.  He  was  architect  of  the  Bank  of  England. 
Like  most  of  Burgon's  early  friends,  he  was  considerably 
older  than  Burgon  himself, — a  full  quarter  of  a  century. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance,  the  memory  of  which  still 
survives  in  the  Burgon  family,  in  connexion  with 
John  William's  inborn  propensity  to  the  use  both  of 
the  pen  and  the  pencil,  that,  before  he  was  two  years 
old,  and  when  he  could  only  speak  a  few  words  of 
modern  Greek,  which  he  had  picked  up  from  his  mother 
and  his  nurse,  he  would  imitate  the  action  of  writing 
with  his  little  hand  on  the  table,  saying,  yp j</>oj,  ypa<£&> ! 
(Grajj/w,  G rap/io  ;  "  I  write,"  "  I  write.")  His  parents  often 
mentioned  with  amusement  this  incident  of  his  earliest 
years ;  and  added  that  "  Johnny  was  never  happy,  unless 
he  had  a  pencil  in  his  hand." 

Having  received  instruction  from  his  mother  during 
the  first  eleven  years  of  his  life,  young  Burgon  was  sent 
to  a  school  at  Putney,  kept  by  Mr.  Watts,  October  2,  A.n.  18: 
1824.  He  had  already  acquired  the  rudiments  of  draw-  *'  !1 
ing  at  home,  under  the  private  tuition  of  Mr.  Woodley ; 
and  it  is  characteristic  of  him  both  that  one  of  his  early 
sketches  (he  had  made  attempts  at  drawing  ancient 
vases  when  he  was  only  five  years  old)  should  be  a 
drawing  of  his  first  school,  and  also  that  his  first  letter 
from  school  to  his  mother  is  to  ask  her  acceptance  (;!  as 
I  know  that  you  are  fond  of  poems  ")  of  a  book  of  poems 
"  by  Mr.  Alaric  Watts,  who  is  Mr.  Watts's  brother." 

VOL.  i.  c 


1 8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

In  connexion  with  his  school  life  at  Putney  his  sur- 
viving sister  writes  : — 

"  From  a  very  early  age  my  brother  was  a  most 
religiously  disposed  boy.  I  have  heard  my  mother  say 
that  at  his  first  school  (Mr.  Watts's,  at  Putney)  it 
was  his  custom,  besides  showing  kindness  to  and  sup- 
porting any  little  boys  in  trouble,  to  protect  a  French 
boy,  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  while  saying  his 
prayers.  J.  W.  B.  used  to  keep  guard  at  the  door  of 
their  bedroom,  and  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  his 
tormentors. . .  From  infancy  he  was.  I  should  say,  won- 
derfully pure,  thoughtful,  liberal,  and  loving  to  the  poor. 
I  have  heard  my  mother  say  that,  when  quite  a  little 
boy,  he  would  occupy  himself  of  an  evening  in  making 
little  articles  of  worsted  work  for  a  poor  woman  (who 
sat  with  her  basket  near  our  house  in  Brunswick 
Square)  to  sell.  He  would  take  the  articles  to  her  him- 
self, and  on  his  return  would  describe  to  our  mother 
her  thankfulness,  and  say  '  she  had  blessed  him.'  This  he 
dwelt  upon,  and  seemed  to  appreciate.  These  visits  to 
the  poor  woman  afforded  him  the  liveliest  pleasure." 

.  1828.  In  the  summer  of  1828,  when  he  had  not  been  quite 
"  I5'  four  years  at  Putney,  where  latterly  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  happy,  he  was  removed  to  a  school  at  Black- 
heath,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Greenlaw. 
Several  of  his  letters  to  his  parents  from  both  schools 
have  been  preserved.  While  their  topics  are  the  ordinary 
topics  of  schoolboys'  letters,  they  show  every  now  and 
then,  as  might  be  anticipated,  an  intelligence  and  an 
interest  in  certain  branches  of  knowledge  (not  in  the 
regular  school-work)  above  the  average  ;  and  they 
derive  a  certain  importance,  in  connexion  with  his  life 
and  character,  from  the  following  memorandum  made  by 
him  respecting  them  when  he  came  of  age,  which,  even 
if  it  shows  perhaps  a  little  sense  of  self-importance, 
shows  also  a  power  of  introspection  not  very  common  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  19 

"  Memorandum.  To-day,  by  mere  chance,  I  stumbled  on 
this  bundle  of  letters,  written  for  the  most  part  by  myself 
from  school  at  an  early  period, — and  I  lay  them  aside, 
thinking  that  at  some  future  day  they  may  be  interesting. 

"  From  a  hasty  glance  over  their  contents.  I  perceive 
that  I  was  10  years  ago  much  the  same  creature  that  I 
am  now.  I  notice  the  same  love  of  books  and  of  study, 
the  same  hatred  of  school  and  contempt  for  the  society 
of  my  equals  in  age,  which  since  I  was  1 i.  and  first  went 
to  school,  I  have  never  been  able  to  shake  off,"  (he 
always,  in  his  earlier  days,  lived  with  men  older  than 
himself),  "  the  same  love  of  quiet,  and  consequent  love 
of  home,  the  same  ill-health,  which  is  after  all  at  the 
root  of  half  the  evils  of  life  ;  in  fact  I  perceive  that,  save 
in  a  general  manline**,  which  at  21  everyone  must  more  or 
less  acquire,  the  10  years  in  question  have  produced  very 
little  alteration  in  the  materials  of  my  moral  organisation. 

"  Good-night  to  you. — Sunday  Night,  i  o'clk. 
"June  8th,  1834, 

K  JOHN  W.  BURGON." 

A  few  short  extracts  from  these  schoolboy  letters  are 
here  subjoined,  showing  the  affectionateness  and  domes- 
ticity of  his  character,  and  his  interest  (even  at  that 
early  age)  in  antiquities,  and  in  the  vindication  of  the 
truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Aug.  22, 1 828  \/Etat.  15].  (Returning,  with  his  younger 
brother  Thomas,  to  school  at  Blackheath.)  To  his 
Mother. 

"  I  am  sure  the  reason  why  the  boys  do  not  mind  so 
much  leaving  home  is,  because  they  do  not  feel  the  same 
happiness  in  their  circle  at  home,  which  proceeds  from 
that  mutual  affection  which  we  always  have,  and  I  am 
sure  we  ever  will  enjoy." 

Blackheath,  Oct.  27,  1828  [Mat.  15].     To  his  Father. 

"  I  heard  from  Greenlaw  "  (the  master  of  his  school) 
"  that  a  niinniiiy  lately  arrived  from  Egypt  has  been  dis- 
covered to  have  been  the  high  priest  of  Pharaoh,  by 

c  2 


2o  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

means  of  the  hieroglyphics,  in  which  great  improvements 
are  making.  This  event  is  perhaps  as  excellent  a  proof 
of  the  truth  of  Scripture  History  as  can  be  produced  for 
the  conviction  of  the  incredulous,  and  I  dare  say  it  will 
make  many  a  fellow,  who  is  fond  of  being  thought 
remarkable  in  his  notions,  &c.,  appear  a  most  egregious 
ass." — In  this  last  observation  there  is  surely  an  augury 
of  much  that  was  to  come  after. 

His  account  of  his  Confirmation  (by  Bishop  Murray  of 
Rochester)  will  be  read  with  interest.  It  shows  his  serious- 
ness in  attending  the  Ordinance,  though  not  the  sensibility 
which  was  so  marked  a  feature  of  his  character. 

x  1829.  Blackheath,  May  26,  1829.     To  his  Father. 

' 1  '  "I  thought  it  a  very  solemn  ceremony  ;  but  my  com- 
panions seem  to  think  very  little  about  it.  One  thing 
though  I  thought  very  absurd  ;  several  of  the  women 
and  girls  were  in  tears  ! ! !  Now  Mr.  G.  has  been  kind 
enough  to  explain  to  us  all,  so  often,  and  so  fully,  the 
whole  meaning  and  purpose  of  Confirmation,  that  I  was 
very  far  from  anything  like  this  ;  and  indeed,  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  this  circumstance  provoked  my  laughter 
in  spite  of  myself.  I  see  nothing  further  to  be  implied, 
than  that  you  own  that  you  are  old  enough  to  perceive 
the  necessity  of  doing  your  duty,  and  the  propriety  of 
what  has  been  promised  in  your  name,  when  an  infant, 
and  that  in  confessing  your  belief  in  Christ,  you  under- 
take to  do  your  best  to  do  what  is  right.  Three  sermons 
I  have  heard,  and  two  I  have  read  on  the  subject,  and 
this  is  what  I  extract  from  them.  The  bishop  seemed 
young.  He  was  attended  by  a  great  many  clergymen. 
I  enclose  a  little  sketch  of  him  from  memory.  Which  I 
think  is  rather  like'2." 

"  It  surprises  us  to  find  in  his  be  recorded  ;  but  it  appears  strange 
Journal  of  the  year  1 834 — the  year  that  in  the  five  years  which  had 
in  which  he  came  of  age — this  elapsed  since  the  Confirmation  of 
entry:  "  March  28,  Good  Friday  . . .  one  so  religiously  minded  from  boy- 
Took  the  Sacrament  for  the  second  hood,  he  should  have  only  corn- 
time  in  my  life."  The  date  of  hia  municated  twice  ;  more  especially 
first  Communion  does  not  seem  to  as  his  attendance  at  Church  on 


THE  EARLY  LIFE. 


21 


It  is  very  many  years  since  the  writer  saw  Bishop 

Murray  ;  but  "  the 
little  sketch"  (in 
pencil, — the  slightest 
thing  in  the  world 
— done  with  wonder-, 
fully  few  strokes) 
seems  to  summon 
back  the  stately 
and  dignified  pre- 
sence of  the  Bishop 
with  his  wig.  Be- 
neath it  is  written 
by  the  draughtsman, 
"  Bishop  of  Roches- 
*—  ter,  May  26,  1829." 

It    may    be    men- 
'  tioned    here  that   in 
later      life      Burgon, 
who,  as  has  been  said,  received  instruction  in  drawing 


Sundays  (frequently  twice,  and  not 
unfrequently  thrice)  is  carefully 
noted,  and  observations  are 
usually  made  on  the  preachers  he 
hears.  It  must  be  remembered 
however  that  it  is  quite  of  late  years 
that  the  desirableness  of  frequent 
Communion  has  been  recognised  in 
our  Church,  and  admonitions  to  it 
and  opportunities  for  it  given,  and 
that  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
century  the  notion  of  something 
terrible  and  repelling  in  connexion 
with  the  great  Ordinance  ("as  if  a 
different  God  entered  the  Church 
after  the  sermon,"  as  an  eminent 
divine  of  those  days  well  and 
pointedly  said)  prevailed  very 


widely,  and  kept  a  persistent  hold 
even  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
were  quite  bent  on  doing  their 
duty,  and  were  very  attentive  to 
other  religious  observances.  Mis- 
taken as  this  notion  undoubtedly 
was,  it  yet  furnished  a  security 
against  irreverence  and  the  dis- 
pensing with  previous  preparation ; 
and  it  may  be  gravely  questioned 
whether,  since  this  security  has  been 
swept  away,  good  Christians  have 
not  been  somewhat  the  losers  in 
edification.  Constant  Communion 
implies  a  life  of  constant  watchful- 
ness and  prayer,  and  only  in  associa- 
tion with  those  conditions  can  & 
blessing  be  expected  upon  it. 


22  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

before  he  went  to  school,  from  Mr.  "Woodley,  had  a  few 
lessons  from  Dibdin  in  landscape-painting  ;  in  which 
he  attained  great  proficiency,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
beautiful  water-colour  drawings  which  he  made  in  the 
course  of  his  tour  to  Egypt  and  Palestine. 

His  desire  to  take  Holy  Orders  dated  from  his  earliest 
youth,  and  it  was  only  in  deference  to  his  father's  strong 
wish,  and  out  of  his  own  sense  of  the  duty  of  filial 
obedience,  that  he  went  into  the  counting-house  after  his 
removal  from  school.  "  He  disliked  it  more  than  I  can 
tell "  (writes  his  surviving  sister),  "  and  found  relief 
only  in  the  pursuit  of  Poetry  and  Art  during  his  leisure 
moments,  when  he  returned  from  the  city." 

And  thus  we  are  brought  to  the  year  (i  830)  succeeding 
his  Confirmation,  when  he  commenced  a  book  of  extracts 
from  his  reading  with  the  following  memorandum,  which 
shows  his  thoughtfulness  at  that  early  age,  and  his  serious 
determination  to  improve  his  mind  : — 

"I  have  now  attained  my  I7th  year;  and  although  in 
the  course  of  the  last  10  years  I  have  perused  several 
works,  the  contents  of  many,  and  the  titles  of  a  still 
greater  number,  have  escaped  my  recollection.  This  may 
have  been  partly  owing  to  my  youth  ;  but  must,  I  think, 
be  principally  attributed  to  my  never  having  preserved 
extracts  from  them,  or  committed  to  paper  my  opinion 
of  their  contents  :  such  a  custom  would  have  induced  me 
to  read  with  greater  care,  and  by  leading  me  to  reflect 
on  what  I  had  read,  might  have  materially  assisted  me 
in  forming  my  judgment  and  taste. — Although  I  have 
suffered  so  many  years  to  elapse  without  doing  this,  I  do 
not  intend  any  longer  to  do  so ;  but  as  I  read,  shall  note 
in  this  book  everything  that  may  appear  interesting  or 
worthy  of  observation. 

"  For  my  note  book. 

"(Signed)  J.  W.  BURGON. 

"Aug.  27,  1830." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  23 

It  should  be  added  that,  by  way  of  completing  his 
education,  he  attended  lectures  at  the  London  Univer- 
sity, where  he  gained  a  prize  for  the  best  Essay  in  the 
Junior  Class,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Session  of  1829-30. 

And  now  it  will  be  well,  before  going  further,  to  take 
a  general  view  of  his  occupations  and  surroundings 
during  the  eleven  years  which  were  to  elapse  between 
1830  and  1841.  He  was  taken  into  his  father's  count- 
ing-house, in  the  expectation  that  he  would  one  day 
succeed  to  the  headship  of  it.  The  work,  always  most 
distasteful  to  him,  occupied  most  of  his  mornings,  and 
often  detained  him,  especially  on  "  Turkey  Post  days," 
till  a  late  hour  in  the  evening.  But  so  extraordinary 
was  his  mental  energy,  that  he  not  only  (as  will  be  seen 
further  on)  composed  his  '  Life  ami  Times  of  Gres/tam,' 
and  many  other  literary  pieces,  both  in  prose  and  poetry, 
of  a  more  fugitive  and  less  substantial  character,  but 
found  time,  chiefly  by  sitting  up  to  a  very  late  hour,  to 
become  versed  in  several  departments  of  Art  and 
Archaeology,  in  the  knowledge  of  rare  and  old  books,  of 
pictures  and  engravings,  and  in  the  study  and  criticism 
of  Shakspere.  And  we  are  to  think  of  him  as  moving, 
from  his  school-days  onward,  in  the  society  of  men  of 
high  cultivation,  and  literary  or  artistic  eminence,  who 
were  frequent  guests  at  his  father's  house.  This  fell  in 
with  his  intellectual  leaning,  which  was  towards  research 
and  literature  in  all  its  forms,  and  also  with  his  moral 
temperament,  which  was  of  an  aspiring  character, — a 
leaning  and  a  temperament  recognised  by  himself  in  the 
memorandum  which  he  made  on  coming  of  age,  and  which 
has  been  given  above :  "  I  notice  the  same  love  of  books 

and  of  study,  the  same contempt  for  the  society  of 

my  equals  in  age,  which since  I  first  went  to  school 

I  have  never  been  able  to  shake  off."  (See  above,  p.  19.) 


24  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

A  few  are  here  mentioned,  whose  names  are  constantly 
re-appearing  in  his  Journals  and  Letters,  and  whose 
tastes  and  studies  were  no  doubt  in  some  measure  com- 
municated to  him  and  contributed  to  the  formation  of 
his  mind.  Mr.  Cockerell  has  already  made  his  appearance 
in  our  narrative.  Thomas  Leverton  Donaldson  \b.  1795] 
was  another  celebrated  architect,  and  connoisseur  of  Art, 
who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  Burgon  family. 
Then,  in  the  department  of  travel,  besides  Sir  Charles 
Fellows,  who  will  be  mentioned  at  length  presently, 
there  was  Mr.  Frederick  Catherwood,  the  author  of 
'  Travels  in  Yucatan!  Sir  Richard  Westmacott,  the  sculptor 
\b.  1775,  d.  1856],  well  known  as  having  executed  the 
bronze  Achilles  in  Hyde  Park,  the  statue  on  the  Duke  of 
York's  column,  and  several  of  the  monuments  of  public 
men  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  was  another  member  of  the 
same  circle.  James  Millingen  [b.  1774,  (I.  1845]  had  been 
a  very  early  friend  of  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon,  and  was  in 
entire  sympathy  with  his  tastes  and  pursuits,  having 
written  on  the  "  Ancient  Unedited  Coins  of  Greek  Cities 
and  Kings,  from  various  Collections,  principally  in  Great 
Britain  [1837:  4to],"  and  on  many  similar  subjects,  and 
being  possessed  of  great  critical  acumen  in  judging  of 
coins,  gems,  and  antiquities  in  general.  He  lived  at 
Florence,  but  frequently  visited  England  in  the  summer, 
and,  when  he  did  so,  never  failed  to  make  his  appearance 
(always  duly  noted  in  John  William  Burgon's  journal) 
in  Brunswick  Square.  Dr.  Leemans,  a  Dutchman, 
"  Conservateur  "  of  the  Museum  at  Leyden,  who  came  to 
England  to  study  Egyptian  Antiquities  in  the  British 
Museum,  received  much  kindness  from  Mr.  Burgon 
senior,  and  was  constantly  in  the  house,  as  John  William 
records,  when  little  "  Kitty,"  the  treasure  and  joy  of  the 
whole  family,  was  snatched  away  by  death.  Dr.  Lepsius, 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  25 

a  German,  was  introduced  to  the  Burgons  by  Dr. 
Leemans.  He  was  a  great  student  of  Hieroglyphics  and 
a  learned  Egyptologist,  became  Keeper  of  the  Egyptian 
Museum  at  Berlin,  and  was  appointed  leader  of  the 
great  scientific  expedition  sent  out  by  the  Prussian 
Government  to  Egypt,  of  which  he  wrote  a  description 
in  several  large  volumes.  Of  English  literary  men, 
whose  names  are  familiar  to  all,  there  were  several  who 
maintained  friendly  relations  with  the  family.  The 
poet  Rogers  was  one  of  these  ;  and  the  following  account, 
extracted  from  John  William's  Journal,  of  a  conversation, 
which  he  had  the  honour  of  holding  with  Rogers  at  his 
father's  table,  will  be  read  with  interest,  as  throwing 
light  both  on  his  own  character  and  that  of  the  poet. 

"Aug.  4,  1832."  [.-E/af.  19].  "Rogers  dined  with 
us.  After  dinner  the  following  conversation  took  place 
between  us  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember.  I  asked  him 
how  his  new  edition  went  on.  He  said,  '  But  slowly,  it 
being  in  the  hands  of  the  engravers.'  When  I  asked 
after  Moore,  what  he  was  at,  &c.,  he  told  me  he  talked 
of  a  long  poem  we  are  some  day  to  see  of  his.  Rogers 
is  a  queer  man :  he  thinks  me  too  young,  I  suppose,  to 
merit  his  confidence,  or  even  to  deserve  being  conversed 
wilh.  1  was  afraid  of  being  troublesome,  and  therefore 

said  no  more  on  the  subject I  then  observed; 

1  \Yliat  a  pity  it  is  that  the  poet  cannot  exercise  the  same 
power  as  the  sculptor,  and,  after  he  has  conceived  some- 
thing grand,  commission  another  to  execute  it  for  him! 
For.'  1  added,  '  the  charming  part  of  the  task  is  the  con- 
ception ;  the  execution  is  laborious,  and  takes  up  time.' 
'  Then,'  said  Rogers,  '  how  much  Byron  would  have  left 
us !  He  would  have  sickened  us ! '  I  begged  him  to 
recall  that  word.  '  We  might  then  have  had  an  accumu- 
hitii.n  of/Av/v/'/v.v,'  said  I.  He  smiled,  but  said  nothing. 
I  asked  him  what  quality  must  we  consider  as  most 
essential  for  a  poet  to  possess, — imagination,  judgment, 
common  sense,  or  what?  He  replied,  he  supposed 
imagination,  though  common  sense  was  indispensable.  '  It 


26  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

is  a  pity,'  said  he,  '  Byron  had  not  more  common  sense.' 
I  said  nothing.  '  Homer,'  he  added,  '  had  more  common 
sense  than  any  poet  who  ever  lived.' — The  conversation 
at  table  turned  on  Death  (violent  Death  principally  ;  for 
they  were  discussing  the  proposed  reform  in  criminal 
punishment).  Donaldson  observed  that  he  did  not  see 
why  that  extreme  degree  of  fear  should  be  manifested  at 
the  prospect  of  Death.  The  answer  seemed  to  remain 
with  Rogers,  who  replied  ;  '  You  are  the  first  man  that 
I  ever  heard  say  so/  Then,  after  a  pause  ;  '  Shakspere 
has  expressed  the  sentiment  better  than  any  one  else  ; 

"  Aye,  but  to  die — to  go  we  know  not  whither,"  &c.'  " 

Here  is  another  account  from  his  journal  of  a  dinner 
at  Miss  Rogers',  at  which  he  met  the  poet,  and  three 
painters, — Westall  (;'he  teaches  the  Princess  Victoria 
drawing,  and  loves  her  as  his  own  child  ") ;  Leslie  ("  a 
fine  man,  with  an  intelligent,  agreeable  face  ....  his  wife 
is  said  to  be  the  original  of  all  his  ladies  ") ;  and  Ottley 
("  strong  in  a  particular  branch  of  painting,  very  con- 
descending and  communicative,  and  possessing  much  of 
the  '  milk  of  human  kindness '  "). 

"Tuesday,  i5th"  (the  year  and  month  are  not  given. 
Perhaps  it  was  December,  1835,  or  perhaps  March,  1836 ; 
— the  1 5th  of  both  these  months  fell  on  a  Tuesday). 
"  Samuel  Rogers  I  have  often  scribbled  about.  He  has 
a  peculiar  way,  and  one  which  it  is  difficult  to  describe  ; 
for  la  morte  parole  gives  one  no  notion  of  ione  and  man m-r. 
His  '  God  bless  me '  is  as  comical  as  a  long  paragraph 

from  the  lips  of  a  common  man When  Miss 

Ottley  had  ended  a  little  song,  'That  is  Italian,'  said 
Rogers,  '  eh  ? '  Miss  Ottley  told  him  that  it  was  Spanish. 
'Ah!  Spanish,'  observed  the  poet,  without  the  least 
alteration  of  feature  or  tone, — 'I  didn't  know  whether 
I  was  in  Italy  or  Spain.' ...  In  the  course  of  the  even- 
ing I  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  seen  Johnson. 
'  No,'  said  Rogers, '  I  never  did.'  I  pressed  him  a  little 
closer.  '  Once,'  said  he,  '  when  I  was  a  very  young  man, 
younger  than  you,  I  was  passing  Bolt  Court  with  a 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  27 

schoolfellow,  and  I  proposed  that  we  should  pay  Johnson 
a  visit.  But  when  I  laid  my  hand  on  the  knocker  my 
courage  failed  me.'  'Have  you  not  often  repented  it 
since  1 '  '  Yes  ;  for  I  should  have  had  a  story  to  tell  I 
dare  say  he  would  have  received  us  kindly  ;  and  if  he 
had  not,  I  don't  know  that  I  should  have  minded  it.' 
We  were  disturbed  from  the  conversation  by  the  sound 
of  the  guitar  in  the  next  room.  .  .  .  The  conversation  at 
table  turned  principally  on  painting  and  painters — 
Vandyke  and  so  on.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  Rogers 
told  me  that  Gainsborough's  '  Boy  in  Blue  '  was  a  Iracm-a 
occasioned  by  Reynolds  having  said  that  blue  was  not  a 
good  colour  for  the  principal  light  in  a  picture.  The 
original  was  the  son  of  a  coachmaker  in  Long  Acre." 

And  here  another  of  his  breakfasting  with  the  poet 
in  company  with  his  brother. 

"  This  morning  Tom  and  I  breakfasted  at  St.  James's 
Place  with  Mr.  Rogers.  We  were  invited  for  half-past 
nine,  and  took  care  to  be  punctual.  I  think  Rogers  so 
interesting  a  person,  that  I  shall  set  down  everything 
that  passed  as  nearly  as  I  am  able. 

"  We  found  the  breakfast  on  the  table,  and  the  Poet 
writing  at  a  little  side-table.  He  rose  to  receive  us, 
remarking  that  he  was  sorry  that  it  was  such  a  dull  day. 
I  replied  that  everything  would  be  bright  where  we 
were, — with  which  I  think  he  was  pleased  ;  and  then  in 
compliance  with  our  entreaties  he  continued  his  letter. 

"  We  amused  ourselves  in  the  meantime  with  his 
pictures,  and  happened  to  be  contemplating  a  most  inter- 
esting bust  of  Pope  by  Roubiliac,  when  he  ceased  writing. 
He  came  near  us,  and  talked  to  us  about  Pope,  and  that 
bust,  which  is  an  original.  Sir  R.  Peel  has  the  marble 
which  was  executed  from  it,  and  which  is  not  nearly  so 
beautiful  as  the  model.  Rogers  made  us  notice  the 
character  of  the  mouth,  and  the  intellectual  formation  of 
the  head.  Then  he  alluded  to  Pope's  deformity,  and  we 
airi(  t  (1  that  Millingen  resembled  Pope  in  some  respects. 
^  hcii  we  sat  down  to  breakfast,  I  observed  to  Mr. 
Rogers  that  I  never  approached  his  house  without  feel- 


28  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURQON. 

ing  that  I  trod  on  holy  ground, — so  many  eminent  men 
had  imprinted  it  with  their  footsteps.  He  smiled,  and 
told  us  that  he  certainly  could  number  among  his  guests 
some  great  names.  '  After  I  had  been  here  four  weeks,' 
said  he,  '  Fox  came  to  pay  me  a  visit,  and  there  has 
scarcely  been  a  greater  man  than  he.'  I  reminded  him 
of  Sheridan,  Scott,  Byron,  &c.  He  assented,  and  observed 
that  Sheridan  had  often  been  at  his  house.  '  Oh,  yes,' 
said  I,  '  we  know  that  well  from  books.'  ...  I  told  him, 
a  propos  of  Sheridan,  that  I  did  not  think  he  was  enough 
regarded  in  the  light  of  a  warning  ; — with  such  splendid 
talents,  to  have  lived  so  unhappily  and  died  so  miserably  ! 
'  Yes,'  said  Rogers,  '  I  think  so  too.  If  he  had  had  one 
vice  more,  his  history  would  not  have  been  such  a  warn- 
ing as  it  is, — had  he  had  the  littleness  to  love  money, 
and  the  meanness  to  hoard  it.' 

"He  said,  speaking  of  his  illustrious  guests,  that 
nothing  would  satisfy  Queen  Caroline,  short  of  paying 
him  a  visit ;  and  she  came. 

"  I  happened  to  mention  the  name  of  Gray  incidentally  ; 
and  I  am  glad  I  did  so,  for  it  led  to  some  interesting 
conversation  on  the  part  of  Rogers.  I  discovered  that 
he  has  my  taste  for  old  associations  and  classic  haunts  in 
perfection.  He  told  us  where  Gray  lived  (which  with 
some  other  particulars  I  shall  note  down  in  my  life  of 
Gray)  and  perceiving  the  pleasure  it  gave  us  to  hear  him 
talk  about  such  things,  told  us  which  was  Dryden's 
house,  which  Newton's,  and  which  Lord  Mansfield's 
(Pope's  Murray). 

"  The  hint  for  Dryden's  house  he  had  found  (it  seems), 
in  Spence's  anecdotes,  a  book  of  which  he  is  extremely 
fond,  and  which  he  subsequently  made  his  man-servant 
bring  down  stairs  for  him  to  refer  to.  Gray's  he  was 
told  of  by  Mr.  Nicholls,  and  Newton's  he  discovered  in 
walking  through  St.  Martin's  Street.  He  noticed  a 
curious  little  construction  at  the  top  of  a  house  in  that 
street,  on  which  he  thought  he  could  discern  the  word 
Newfoui  inscribed.  He  went  in  and  found  a  boy  scraping 
the  floor  of  the  lower  room,  and  he  enquired  of  him  the 
meaning  of  the  little  pigeon-house  on  the  roof.  The 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  29 

boy  said  that  an  old  man  named  Newton  used  to  sit  up 
and  watch  the  stars  from  that  little  building  all  night. 
'  Now,'  said  Rogers,  '  no  one  notices  such  things ! '  .  .  . 
We  expressed  our  satisfaction  at  finding  him  as  fond  as 
ourselves  of  such  things.  '  I  live  upon  such  recollections,' 
he  replied,  '  I  think  of  nothing  else  all  day.  .  .  .  When 
Wordsworth  came  to  see  me  the  other  day,  I  took  him 
to  see  Dryden's  house  and  Newton's  observatory.'  He 
reminded  us  that  Addison  used  to  live  in  St.  James's 
Place,  but  he  did  not  know  the  number. 

"  To  return  to  Gray.  I  told  him  that  I  had  seen  Gray's 
rooms  at  Cambridge,  and  the  bar  of  iron  which  he  had 
caused  to  be  fixed  outside  his  windows,  to  effect  his 
escape  in  case  of  fire.  'Is  it  there  still1?'  said  Rogers  ; 
'  I  remember  Mr.  Canning's  narrative  of  the  circum- 
stance which  occasioned  Gray's  departure  from  Peter 
House.  Some  frolicsome  young  men  placed  a  tank  of 
water  under  his  window,  and  called  out  fire.  Up  flew 
the  window,  and  out  came  Gray  -with  his  fire-escape, 
which  necessarily  conducted  him  into  the  tank  prepared 
for  his  reception.  The  young  men  apologized,  alleging 
that  they  meant  to  have  called  out  n-nfer\  but  that  in 
their  confusion  they  called  out  Jirc  instead.  Gray  left 
the  College,  contenting  himself  with  observing  that  the 
College  was  noisy,  and  the  young  men  troublesome.' 

" '  I  was  always  from  a  boy  fond  of  Gray,'  said  Rogers. 
.  .  .  '  Gray  was  a  nervous,  perhaps  a  finical  man ;  but  he 
commanded  the  greatest  respect.  Lord  St.  Helen's,  who 
is  alive  and  well  at  85  (?),  told  me  that,  when  he  went  up 
to  Trinity  College  as  a  boy,  he  took  with  him  a  letter 
for  Gray,  who  came  next  morning  to  pay  him  a  visit, 
attended  by  three  of  his  friends — Stonhewer,  Palgrave, 
and  another.  They  did  not  come  as  if  in  conversation, 
in  a  group,  or  two  and  two ;  but  they  walked  in  a  line, 
one  after  the  other.  On  their  departure  the  young  men 
of  the  College,  who  were  assembled  in  the  quadrangle  to 
see  Gray  come  out,  all  took  off  their  caps  to  him.' 

"  While  on  the  subject  of  interesting  sites,  Rogers 
remarked  to  us  how  few  persons  passing  Milk  Street  and 
Bread  Street,  remembered  Milton  and  Sir  Thomas  More, 


30  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

who  were  born  there.  He  praised  Mackintosh's  life  of 
the  latter,  and  in  remarking  on  the  character  of  Sir 
Thomas,  insisted  that  he  did  not  die  for  the  sake  of 
Popish  Supremacy,  but  that  he  died  ion:  freedom  of  opinion. 
We  talked  a  little  about  Egyptian  antiquities, — a  study, 
as  Rogers  observed,  in  which  so  much  remains  to  be 
learned  by  those  who  will  concentrate  their  attention. 

"  When  we  arose  from  breakfast.  Rogers  told  us  that 
the  mahogany  pier,  which  stands  in  his  dining-room,  and 
supports  a  vase,  was  the  work  of  Chantrey  when  he 
worked  for  5*.  per  day3. 

"  Turning  to  one  of  his  pictures,  he  made  a  remark  to 
Tom  which  displeased  me  ; — it  displayed,  I  thought,  such 
a  want  of  taste.  '  West,'  said  he,  '  used  to  refuse  j^icoo 
for  that  picture ' ;  and  in  a  similar  strain  he  would  remark 
of  other  objects,  as  if  the  money  value  of  the  objects 
around  him  was  of  any  moment. 

"  I  was  meanwhile  engaged  in  making  some  memo- 
randa from  his  copy  of  Gray,  which  had  belonged  to 
Cole  4,  the  antiquary.  I  was  amused  to  see  that  Rogers 
has  another  of  my  weaknesses,  viz.,  that  of  writing  in 
his  books,  and  when  he  meets  with  anything  which 
interests  him,  noting  the  page  at  the  end  of  the  volume, 
— a  trick  of  my  own.  Gray  appears  indeed  to  be  one 
of  Rogers'  favourites; — he  told  me  that  he  was  an 
especial  object  of  his  admiration  from  boyhood.  Hence, 
obviously,  Rogers'  '  Ode  to  Superstition,' — which  I  re- 
marked to  him.  I  told  him  too,  that  I  thought  his 

3  There  is  an  anecdote,  which  the  Antiquary,  was  born  in  1714  and 

writer  is  unable  to  trace  to  its  died  in  1782.  He  graduated  at 

source,  of  Chantrey  himself  having  Cambridge,  where  he  was  the  College 

seen  this  mahogany  pier,  when  he  friend  of  Walpole,  Mason,  and  Gray, 

was  breakfasting  with  Rogers,  and  He  held  the  benefices  of  Hornsey, 

having  asked  the  poet  if  he  could  Bletchley  in  Bucks,  and  Burnham, 

call  to  mind  the  name  of  the  man  near  Eton.  He  left  to  the  British 

who  made  it.  On  Rogers'  saying  Museum  fifty  folios  of  Manuscript 

that  he  could  not,  and  that  it  was  Antiquarian  Collections.  It  was 

made  by  some  poor  working  man,  his  intention  to  compose  an  Athena 

Chantrey  is  said  to  have  replied,  Cantabrigienses,  as  a  companion  to 

" That  man  was  myself."  Anthony  Wood's  Athence  Oxoni- 

*  The    Rev.   William   Cole,   the  enses. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  31 

genius  very  much  resembled  that  of  Gray ;  they  both 
have  written  so  little  and  so  well.  .  .  .  We  went  up  into 
the  drawing-room,  and  after  looking  a  little  at  his  vases, 
left  him.  He  is  certainly  a  very  amusing  gentleman-like 
man,  and  has  the  courtier- like  art  to  make  it  appear  that 
he  is  receiving  a  favour,  while  it  is  quite  obvious  that  he 
is.  on  the  contrary,  conferring  a  considerable  one." 

Having  seen  what  were  the  literary  surroundings  of 
John  William  Burgon  in  his  early  life,  we  now  return  to 
our  narrative,  which  we  left  off  with  the  memorandum 
made  by  him  in  his  note-book,  at  the  age  of  1 7,  in  the  year 
1830.  The  following  year,  1831,  was  marked  by  the  A.D.  1831. 
formation  of  a  very  strong  early  friendship, — almost  of 
the  Pylades  and  Orestes  type. — such  as  young  men  are 
apt  to  form  in  their  prernitr<'  jennesse,  such  as  one  whose 
nature  was  so  intense  and  passionate  was  certain  to  form. 
His  first  acquaintance  with  the  object  of  this  friendship 
is  thus  briefly  recorded  in  the  diary,  which  he  appears  to 
have  commenced  in  the  previous  year : — 

"Monday,  Oct.  31,  1831.  Went  to  Mr.  Booth's — a 
small  dance — met  a  Mr.  Fellows — a  delightful  fellow,  who 
has  seen  Byron  and  H.  K.  White,  and  knows  Moore,  &c., 
&c.,  &c. — very  agreeable  evening." 

In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  the  friendship 
thus  begun  was  cemented  by  a  tour  which  the  friends 
made  together  in  Derbyshire  and  Nottinghamshire. 

"Monday,  Sep.  17,  1832.     Drank  tea  with  Fellows—   A.D.  1832 
j)lanned  trip  to  Nottinghamshire  and  Derbyshire."  -£t-  J9- 

The  trip  began  on  Sept.  21,  when  they  left  London 
for  Nottingham,  and  ended  on  Wednesday,  Oct.  3, 
when  they  returned  by  the  night  coach  from  Not- 
tingham to  London.  Matlock,  Bakewell,  Haddon  Hall, 
Chatsworth,  the  Peak,  Dove-dale  ("the  most  lovely 
spot  in  the  world  "),  Alton  Towers,  Southwell,  Newstead 


32  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Abbey,  Annesley,  and  Hucknall  (the  place  of  Lord  Byron's 
burial)  were  all  visited.  The  last  occasion  of  course  did 
not  fail  to  elicit  verses  from  Burgon  ("written  in  the 
Book  at  Hucknall  Church  ") ;  Byron's  poetry  always  had 
a  special  charm  for  him,  all  the  more  from  that  vein  of 
sadness  and  melancholy  which  runs  through  it,  and 
which,  though  overlaid  and  concealed  occasionally  by  the 
exuberant  and  even  extravagant  frolicsomeness  of  his  tem- 
perament, was  a  real  constituent  of  his  own  mind.  He  him- 
self recognises  this  tendency  of  his  mind,  and  the  colour 
which  his  own  verses  took  from  it,  in  his  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Fellows  a  month  or  two  after  the  Derbyshire  tour. 

"Tuesday  Night,  Nov.  13,  1832.  Do  you  remember 
the  few  words  that  passed  between  us  some  hours  ago, 
about  the  melancholy  that  runs  thro'  my  poetry?  For- 
give a  midnight  apology. 

Oh !   blame  not  if  I  sometimes  wake 
A  note  thy  friendship  deems  too  sad — 

I  would  not,  if  I  could,  forsake 

That  mournful  note,  for  one  more  glad! 

Perchance  you  deem  my  spirits  light, 
Because  these  lips  are  wont  to  jest1? 

Alas!   they  share  the  gloom  of  night 
When  left,  unmoved,  within  my  breast. 

The  harp  beneath  the  minstrel's  touch 

Oft  utters  such  a  blissful  tone, 
That  you,  to  hear,  might  deem  that  such 

Were  uttered  by  its  strings,  alone. 

But  let  the  breath  of  heaven  fly 

Uncheck'd  amid  those  trembling  wires,— 

Go.  hear  the  deep  impassioned  sigh 
They  render  as  each  breath  expires! 

Then  tell — oh !    tell  me  which  you  deem 
To  be  in  truth  their  proper  strain — 

The  minstrel's  gay,  enchanting  theme, 
Or  those  self-uttered  notes  of  pain? 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  33 

Such  are  my  feelings,  ev'n  if  bliss 

Is  sometimes  offered  to  me  here, 
My  heart  reminds  me  that  it  is 

The  prelude  to  a  future  tear. 

And  thus  from  childhood  have  I  learned 
To  see  things  in  their  darker  view ; 

For  even  then  my  joys  were  earned 
By  drinking  deep  of  sorrow  too. 

Then  blame  not,  if  I  sometimes  wake 
A  note  thy  friendship  deems  too  sad ; 

I  could  not,  if  I  would,  forsake 

That  mournful  note  for  one  more  glad!" 

Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Charles)  Fellows  was  a  very  con- 
siderable man, — perhaps  the  most  distinguished  archaeo- 
logical explorer  and  discoverer  of  this  century.  He  was 
born  at  Nottingham  in  1799,  and  thus  was  senior  by 
fourteen  years  to  Burgon, — a  seniority  which  character- 
ized almost  all  the  early  friends  of  the  subject  of  this 
Biography.  Not  only  his  love  of  archseological  research, 
but  his  great  artistic  aptitudes  and  his  extraordinary 
genius  for  drawing,  were  links  uniting  him  to  Burgon, 
who  was  similarly  endowed.  He  it  was  who  discovered 
(in  1827)  the  present  route  to  the  summit  of  Mont 
Blanc,  which  superseded  the  route  previously  taken 
by  travellers,  and  who  in  his  first  expedition  to  Asia 
Minor  discovered  the  ruins  of  Xanthus,  the  ancient 
capital  of  Lycia,  and  in  his  second  thirteen  other  an- 
,  cient  cities.  These  Asiatic  discoveries  are  recorded  in 
a  volume  of  some  500  pages  published  by  Mr.  Murray 
in  1852,  entitled  '  Travels  ami  Researches  in  Asia  Minor, 
more  particularly  in  the  Province  of  Lycia' — a  work 
which  will  be  found  as  interesting  to  the  general  reader 
as  it  is  to  connoisseurs  in  Archaeology.  In  reading 
over  the  letters  addressed  by  Burgon  to  this  gentleman, 

VOL.  I.  D 


34  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

we  are  struck  by  the  circumstance  that,  although  Mr. 
Fellows  had  so  much  the  advantage  of  him  both  in 
age,  and  in  regard  of  a  recognised  position  among  the 
literary  and  scientific  circles  of  London,  their  familiarity 
seems  to  have  been  as  unrestrained  as  if  the  two  had 
been  starting  in  life  together.  Burgon  thinks  that  he 
may  talk  any  nonsense  to  Fellows,  and  vents  upon  him 
the  most  atrociously  bad  puns  ;  nor  is  there  any  of  that 
self-restraint,  and  desire  to  write  what  is  worth  reading, 
which  characterizes  his  letters  (for  example)  to  Mr. 
Dawson  Turner,  to  Mr.  Hunter,  and  to  Mr.  Tytler. 
Indeed  a  vein  of  punning  and  poetizing  runs  through 
all  his  letters  to  this  early  friend,  to  whom  he  was 
evidently,  despite  one  or  two  occasional  misunderstand- 
ings (which  only  proved  the  truth  of  the  old  adage,  "  The 
resentments  of  lovers  are  the  renewals  of  love  "),  most 
deeply  and,  one  may  say,  sentimentally  attached.  Mr. 
Fellows  had  given  him  a  ring  containing  a  fragment 
of  granite  taken  from  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc :  and 
of  course  Burgon  bursts  into  rhyme  forthwith.  Here  is 
his  effusion  :— 

i. 

"  My  ring !   though  I  prize  thee  (and  almost  divine 
Is   the    charm    Friendship   lends   to   that   circlet    of 

thine), 
When  I  think   of  thy  dwelling   on  Earth's   highest 

hill, 
There's  a  lustre  comes  o'er  thee  that's  holier  still! 


2. 

For  the  purest  of  snow,  and  the  freshest  of  dew, 
Unseen,  sinking  on  thee,  have  hallowed  thee  too ; 
And  how  oft,  ere  it  gladdened  the  valleys  below, 
Has  the  breeze  cooled  its  wings  on  thy  dwelling  of 
snow! 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  35 

3- 

If  the  tale  be  a  true  one  our  fathers  have  told5 
(And  who'd  not  believe  them  ?),  that  Angels  of  old 
Full  oft  from  their  world  of  enchantment  have  flown, 
To  count  the  bright  eyes  that  enliven  our  own, 

4- 
The  peak,  where  this  granite  once  grew,  must  have 

been 

The  first  trace  of  Earth  they  could  ever  have  seen; 
And  who — oh !   who  knows,  in  their  flight  thro'  the 

air, 
How  often  they've  lingered  to  rest  themselves  there?" 

Mr.  Fellows  took  a  strong  interest  in  ancient  clocks 
and  watches,  a  curious  collection  of  which  was  left  by 
his  widow,  Lady  Fellows,  to  the  British  Museum  ;  and 
we  find  from  their  correspondence  that  Burgon,  out  of 
the  resources  of  his  extensive  reading  (the  pursuit  of  his 
evenings  when  the  business  of  the  counting-house  was 
over),  sent  his  friend  several  pertinent  and  helpful 
memoranda  on  that  subject.  It  seems  that  on  one 
occasion  Mr.  Fellows  had  pressed  upon  him  the  accept- 
ance of  a  great  curiosity,  which  from  his  intense  love  for 
antiquities,  and  objects  associated  with  great  men,  he 
would  naturally  have  much  desired  to  possess, — a  watch 
which  had  belonged  to  Milton.  But  with  his  usual 
chivalrous  delicacy  of  feeling,  Burgon  would  not  deprive 
his  friend  of  so  great  a  treasure. — It  may  be  added  that 
•*on  religious  subjects  the  friends  entertained  different 
opinions,  of  a  sufficiently  serious  character ;  but  these 
differences  do  not  seem  on  either  side,  certainly  not  on 
Mr.  Burgon's,  to  have  created  any  coolness,  or  to  have 
diminished  their  intimacy  and  the  interest  which  they 

4  An  allusion  to  Gen.  vi.  2  ;  "  The       be  the  Angels)  "saw  the  daughters 
sons  of  God  "  (by  many  supposed  to       of  men  that  they  were  fair,"  &c. 

D  2 


36  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

felt  in  one  another.  Both  parties  candidly  avowed  their 
convictions,  and  maintained  them  argumentatively,  and 
there  the  matter  was  allowed  to  drop, — there  was  no 
breach  of  mutual  confidence  or  esteem.  Burgon's  tone 
on  the  subject  may  be  gathered  from  a  single  passage  of 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Fellows  which  bears  date  July  21,  1833. 

"  As  regards  what  you  have  stated  about  religion,  I 
have  only  to  say  what  I  have  often  said  before,  and 
what  I  shall  often  say  again.  I  believe  the  sincerity,  and 
not  the  nature,  of  our  peculiar  modes  of  regarding  the 
Deity,  will  be  one  day  called  in  question.  I  believe,  in 
spite  of  all  that  St.  Athanasius  has  written  on  the 
subject,  that  the  Turk,  who  in  a  broiling  sun  thrice  a 
day  prostrates  himself  on  the  soil,  and,  though  there  is 
not  a  soul  who  beholds  him,  offers  in  that  position  his 
adoration  to  his  God,  has  a  much  better  chance  of  going 
to  Heaven  than  the  Christian,  who  is  as  regular  in  his 
weekly  round  of  crime  as  he  is  in  his  appearance  on 
Sunday  Mornings  at  Church.  Such  is  my  creed ;  and,  if 
it  were  not,  you  may  very  easily  imagine  that  I  should 
weary  you  day  and  night  with  intreaties  to  think  as  I 
think,  and  to  see  as  I  see 

"  The  wonder  is  NOT  that  certain  divine  points  should 
be  incomprehensible :  but  the  wonder  is  that  finite 
reason  should  be  able  to  comprehend  so  many  of  the 
designs  of  Infinity.  We  believe  sundry  matters  in  every 
day  life,  though  we  cannot  explain  them  ; — '  So  let  it  be 
with  Csesar.' " 

Quite  in  harmony  with  this  last  thought  are  the  fine 
lines  which  he  sends  to  Mr.  Fellows  in  the  letter,  in 
which  he  announces  to  him  his  having  won  Lord  Mayor 
Copeland's  prize  for  the  best  "Essay  on  the  Life  and 
Character  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham."  It  will  be  admitted 
that  the  image,  by  which  he  illustrates  the  sentiment 
that  in  the  future  state  we,  whose  knowledge  here  has 
been  so  partial,  shall  "  know  even  as  we  are  known,"  is 
graceful  and  beautiful : — 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  37 

"  Cold,  prone  to  err.  incredulous,  and  slow, 
Man  knows  alas!    how  little  here  below, 
In  vain  attempts,  with  vision  so  confined, 
To  scan  the  works  of  the  Almighty  Mind, 
Or  of  the  little,  which  'tis  his  to  scan, 
To  comprehend  the  complicated  plan. 
Yet  will  the  day  arrive — no  distant  day — 
When,  like  thin  mists  before  the  morning's  ray, 
One  glance  from  the  Omnipotent  shall  roll 
Error,  and  doubt,  and  darkness  from  his  soul. 
The  mind,  which,  destined  for  a  higher  sphere, 
Toiled  darkly  on  through  gloom  and  sorrow  here, 
Will  wake  in  wisdom,  and  at  once  expand 
In  the  mild  climate  of  '  that  better  land ' ! 

So  fared  the  lily,  which  I  saw  lift  up 
Above  the  Ouse  its  alabaster  cup ; 
Fair  as  it  seemed,  while  yet  beneath  the  wave, 
No  sign  whate'er  of  loveliness  it  gave  ; 
But  when  at  last  it  rose  above  the  stream, 
Like  one  that  wakens  from  a  gloomy  dream 
It  opened  its  bright  eye,  and  far  and  wide 
Burst  into  beauty  o'er  the  azure  tide." 

"  You  understand  of  course  that  the  water-lily  yields 
no  blossom  till  it  emerges  from  the  waters. 

"  It  is  past  i  o'clock.     Good  night,  dear  F. 

"  J.  W.  B." 

One  more  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Fellows,  which  reveals 
much  of  his  moral  and  intellectual  character  at  this  early 
date,  will  be  presented  to  the  reader  at  the  end  of  the 
Chapter. 

We  pass  on  now  to  the  date  of  his  earliest  publication,  A.D.  1833 
i  833,  when  he  had  reached  the  age  of  twenty.     This,  as 
has  been  said,  was  a  translation6,  which  was  published  in 

•  The  Title  Page  of  this  work  is  par  le  Chev*.  P.  O.  Brondsted,  et 

in   full,    "  Me'moire   sur  les  Vases  tradoit  de    1' Anglais    par    J.    W. 

PanatWnaiques,  adresse,  en  foruie  Burgon.       Avec      six      plancheo." 

de  lettre,  Ji  M.  W.  R.   Hamilton,  [Here  follows  a  representation    of 


38  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON, 

Paris,  of  Chevalier  Brondsted's  monograph  on  Panathe- 
naic  Vases.  The  discovery  by  his  father  in  1813  of  the 
Panathenai'c  Amphora,  the  inscription  on  which  had 
given  rise  to  a  question,  which  Brondsted  in  this 
monograph  settles,  naturally  had  great  interest  for  him  ; 
("  comme  la  de'couverte  du  premier  vase  panathe'naique," 
he  says  in  the  "  avant-propos  "  of  his  translation,  "fut 
faite  par  mon  pere  a  Athenes.  il  est  naturel  que  j'aie  du 
sentir  un  interet  particulier  et,  pour  ainsi  dire,  personnel, 
pour  tout  ce  qui  concerne  1'explication  de  ces  monuments 
remarquables"),  and  he  seems  to  have  thought  that  it 
would  be  useful  to  present  in  a  language  '•  plus  repandue 
sur  le  continent "  an  essay  which  he  characterises  as 
"rempli  d'e'rudition  et  de  recherches  profondes." — No 
more  need  be  said  of  this  earliest  publication  of  J.  W. 
Burgon's  than  that  it  shows  not  only  his  deep  interest, 
which,  as  we  have  already  said,  was  hereditary  with  him, 
in  antiquarian  research,  but  also  a  mastery  over  the 
French  language  attained  at  an  early  age,  which  enabled 
him  to  speak  and  write  it  like  a  native. 

The  memorandum  made  by  him  on  the  year  of  his 
coming  of  age  [1834]  has  been  given  above  [see  p.  19]. 

the  obverse  and  reverse  of  an  old  "  On  Panathenai'c  Vases,  and  on 

silver    didrachm    in    Mr.    Thomas  the  Holy  Oil  contained   in  them ; 

Burgon's   collection,   which  Brond-  with    particular   reference  to   some 

sted  determined  to  be  not  Aeginetan  Vases  of  that   description   now   in 

(as  he   had  at  first  thought)   but  London :    Letter  addressed  to  W. 

Athenian,  and  to  have  been  struck  R.  Hamilton,  Esq..  by  Chevr.  P.  O. 

with  some   reference  to  the  Pana-  Brondsted.     From  the  Transactions 

thenaic  festivals,   the  vase   on  the  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature, 

obverse  of  the  coin  being  precisely  Vol.    II.   Part    I.     London:    A.  J. 

similar     in    form    and    proportion  Valpy,  M.A.,  Printer  to  the  Society, 

to    all    the  Panathenaic  amphorae  1832."     Facing  the  Title  Page  is  a 

hitherto   discovered].     "Paris,  Li-  fine    engraving    of     Mr.     Thomas 

brairie    de    Firmin    Didot    Freres,  Burgon  (in  the  fifty-first  3Tear  of  his 

Rue  Jacob,  No.  24,  1833."  age)  as  the  discoverer  of  the  first 

The  Title  Page   of  the   original  Panathenaic  Vase. 
work  of  Broudsted  is : — 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  39 

Iu  the  early  part  of  the  year  1835  we  find  him  ad- 
dressing  the  following  letter  to  the  poet  Southey,  in 
view  of  a  now  edition  by  Southey  of  Cowper's  works, 
which  had  been  announced.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
Southey 's  answer  is  not  now  to  be  found  among  Burgon's 
papers,  though  the  envelope  is  forthcoming  which  con- 
tained it.  and  on  which  is  written.  "  From  the  poet 
Southey — in  acknowledgement  of  an  anecdote  of  Cowper, 
communicated  to  him  by  me.  J.  W.  B.,  March  9,  1835." 

"ii  Brunswick  Square,  London,  14  Feb.,  1835. 

"  Sir, — In  looking  over  the  list  of  forthcoming  publi- 
cations. I  see  with  much  satisfaction  that  a  new  edition 
is  promised  us  of  the  works  of  that  beautiful  poet  and 
excellent  man,  Cowper. — What  makes  this  intelligence 
yet  more  agreeable  is  the  promise  that  the  present  volume 
will  be  edited  by  yourself,  and  accompanied  by  a  life  of 
the  poet,  from  your  own  gifted  pen. 

••On  this  occasion,  though  a  perfect  stranger,  I  take  the 
liberty  (and  I  hope  it  is  an  excusable  one)  to  communi- 
cate to  you  a  little  anecdote  respecting  Cowper,  which 
is  not  perhaps  so  trivial  as  to  be  altogether  undeserving 
of  the  notice  of  a  Biographer.  ...  A  friend  of  mine,  who 
lives  within  a  few  miles  of  Weston,  and  whose  father 
was  well  acquainted  with  Cowper,  tells  me  that  in  the 
beginning  of  1833,  having  occasion  to  visit  Weston,  he 

;it  over  Cowpt/r's  house,  to  see  it  in  sfatit  quo  for  the 
last  time,  as  a  farmer,  who  had  just  taken  possession  of 
the  place,  was  in  the  act  of  painting  and  whitewashing 
the  rooms  to  render  them  habitable. — In  the  course  of 
his  survey  (and  you  may  imagine  it  was  rather  a  curious 
one)  my  friend  tells  me  that  behind  one  of  the  shutters 
in  an  upper  room,  he  found  the  following  lines  written 
in  pencil,  which  he  immediately  recognised  as  being  in 
the  hand-writing  of  Cowper — 

•  Farewell,  dear  scenes  for  ever  closed  to  me! 
Oh!  for  what  sorrow  must  I  now  exchange  you. 

July  28,  1795.' 


4O  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"What  gives  interest  to  these  verses  is  the  circum- 
stance of  the  date,  which,  I  believe,  is  the  very  day  that 
Cowper  left  Weston  for  Norfolk.  ...  I  have  preserved 
this  anecdote  ;  for  it  seems  to  me  characteristic  of  the 
man. — He  has  been  contemplating  the  accustomed  pros- 
pect from  the  window,  perhaps  for  the  last  time,  and  he 
unburthened  his  ever  melancholy  ill-boding  heart  by 
writing  a  verse  behind  the  shutter !  I  long  to  read  your 
censure7  of  Cowper. — In  the  meantime  I  am,  Sir,  with 
much  respect  and  admiration, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
"J.  W.  B." 

This  year  (1835)  was  marked  by  his  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  Patrick  Fraser  Tytler,  of  whom  he  was 
to  publish  a  Memoir  at  the  end  of  1858,  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century  later.  In  that  memoir  [p.  239,  ed.  2]  he 

says : — 

«  We  "  (Tytler  and  himself)  "  first  met  at  Mr.  Rogers', 
in  St.  James'  Place ;  but  did  not  become  acquainted 
until  I  met  him  (i9th  December,  1835,)  at  the  Chev. 
Brb'ndsted's,  a  learned  Danish  antiquary,  and  accom- 
plished traveller,  who  was  lodging  at  Palliano's  in 
Leicester  Square.  The  party  at  Brondsted's  being  small, 
and  my  own  youthful  pursuits  being  of  a  kindred  nature 
to  Mr.  Tytler 's,  I  remember  regarding  him  as  a  lawful 
prize,  and  making  the  most  of  the  opportunity  to  discover 
from  him  something  about  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 

7  The  word  certainly  seems  to  be  Laertes  (Hamlet  I.  3,  69)  we  find 

"  censure,"  which  is  generally  used  "  Take  each  man's  censure,   but 

of  an  unfavourable  judgment.     Oc-  reserve  thy  judgment." 

casionally  however  (like  its  Latin  And  again  in  Richard  III  (ii.  2, 

original  censura)  it  means  merely  144)  ; 

a    judgment    or   opinion,    whether  "Madam,— and  you  my  mother, 

favourable  or  unfavourable.     J.  W.  — will  you  go 

B.'s  mind  was  thoroughly  imbued  To  give  your  censures  in    this 

with  Shakspere's  phraseology.    And  weighty  business  ? " 
in  Polonius's  often-quoted  advice  to 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  41 

MS.  stores  in  our  great  national  repositories.  Enthu- 
siastic he  certainly  found  me,  and  observant,  if  not 
learned,  in  such  matters.  The  first  note  I  ever  received 
from  him,  (February,  1836,)  reminds  me  that  I  called 
his  attention  to  the  curious  Common-place  Book  of  Lord 
Burghley's  among  the  Lansdowne  MSS..  which  contained 
several  entries  of  interest  to  himself.  His  affability,  and 
the  patience  with  which,  though  his  years  fully  doubled 
mine,  he  surrendered  himself  for  the  whole  evening  to  so 
unprofitable  a  conversationist,  I  well  remember ;  as  well 
as  the  gratification  I  experienced  at  forming  the  ac- 
quaintance of  one  whose  tastes  and  whose  manners  were 
so  entirely  congenial." 

It  was  not  until  three  years  later  (1838)  that  the 
acquaintance  thus  formed  with  Tytler  ripened  into  close 
friendship. 

li  Circumstances  "  (doubtless,  his  researches  for  mate- 
rials for  the  '  Life  and  Ti/,/rx  of  Grecian, ')  "  led  me  in 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1838  to  apply  for  permission 
to  inspect  the  Domestic  and  Flemish  Correspond- 
ence of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  preserved  in  the 
State  Paper  Office.  Mr.  Tytler  was  then  the  only  person 
reading  there ;  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  bond  of 
a  common  study,  constantly  pursued  in  the  same  room, 
drew  us  very  much  together.  When  the  Office  closed, 
we  discussed  as  we  walked  home  the  questions  on  which 
we  had  been  respectively  engaged,  and  the  papers  which 
had  passed  under  our  eyes.  Not  unfrequently,  at  the 
Office,  one  stole  across  to  the  desk  of  the  other,  docu- 
ment in  hand ;  and  many  an  interesting  conversation 
ensued,  by  which  it  is  needless  to  say  that  I  was  very 
much  the  gainer.  Though  but  a  novice  in  such  studies, 
I  was  passionately  fond  of  them ;  and,  I  suppose,  made 
up  somewhat  in  enthusiasm  and  application  for  what  I 
wanted  in  knowledge.  .  .  .  He  treated  me  like  a  younger 
brother ;  invited  me  often  to  his  house,  and  admitted  me 
freely  to  his  confidence.  I  grew  very  fond  of  him  indeed, 
and  it  made  me  happy  to  find  that  he  was  equally  fond 


42  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

of  me"   [Burgon's  "Memoir  of  P.  F.  Tytler,  London: 
1859,  pp.  263,  4]. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Tytler  exerted  a  consider- 
able influence  upon  Burgon,  though  it  was  one  which 
Burgon  was  already  thoroughly  predisposed  to  receive. 
There  was  a  wonderful  homogeneousness  both  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  tastes  between  the  two  men.  Tytler 
was  a  great  adept  at  comic  sketches,  witness  his  sister's 
description  of  him,  as  given  in  Burgon's  Memoir, 
p.  297, — which  description,  word  for  word,  might  have 
been  written  for  Burgon,  although  in  point  of  fact  it  was 
written  for  Tytler.  One  of  his  favourite  amusements 
was  to  draw  comic  sketches  for  young  children,  with 
which  he  illustrated  his  letters  to  them,  and  of  which 
some  specimens  will  be  given  at  a  later  period  of  this 
work. — And  deep  would  be  Burgon's  sympathy  with 
this  beautiful  eulogy  upon  children,  which  he  has  quoted 
from  Tytler  [Memoir,  pp.  132,  133]:— 

"In  recalling  the  many  days  of  happiness  which  I 
have  enjoyed,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  (next  to  my  own 
domestic  circle)  the  memory  rests  with  the  greatest 
pleasure  on  the  hours  I  have  spent  amongst  children. 
Amongst  men  and  women,  we  are  perpetually  meeting 
with  all  that  overcasts  the  original  excellence  of  our 
nature  ;  with  ambition,  interest,  pride,  vanity  ;  with  the 
jarring  of  contending  interests  and  opinions,  the  false 
assumption  of  knowledge,  the  doublings  of  affectation, 
the  tediousness  of  egotism,  or  the  repinings  of  disappoint- 
ment. All  these  are  perpetually  elbowing  us  in  our 
intercourse  with  men.  With  children,  we  see  Nature 
in  its  real  colours,  and  happiness  unsullied  as  yet  by  an 
acquaintance  with  the  world.  Their  little  life  is  like 
the  fountain  which  springs  pure  and  sparkling  into  the 
light,  and  reflects  for  a  while  the  sunshine  and  loveliness 
of  Heaven  on  its  bosom.  Their  absence  of  all  affecta- 
tion, their  ignorance  of  the  arts  of  the  world,  their  free 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  43 

expression  of  opinion,  their  ingenuous  confidence,  the 
beautiful  aptitude  with  which  their  minds  instantly 
embrace  the  doctrine  of  an  over-ruling  Providence,  and 
the  exquisite  simplicity  and  confidence  of  their  addresses 
to  the  Father  in  Heaven ;  that  unforced  cheerfulness, 
that  '  sunshine  of  the  breast,'  which  is  only  clouded  by 
'  the  tear  forgot  as  soon  as  shed ' ; — all  this  is  to  be  found 
in  the  character  of  children,  and  of  children  only." 

In  introducing  these  sentiments  of  his  friend's,  Burgon 
tells  us  that  he  sympathizes  with  them  entirely.  Those 
who  knew  him  would  not  need  to  be  told  so.  Every 
word  might  have  been  written  by  himself. 

"  J.  W.  B.'s  tenderly  kind  feeling  for  us  as  children," 
writes  his  surviving  eister,  many  years  younger  than  him- 
self, "  will  always  dwell  in  my  heart.  Many  a  time,  when 
we  were  little,  and  ill  in  bed,  he  would,  though  pressed 
for  time,  before  accompanying  our  father  to  the  City, 
hastily  draw  several  pictures  for  us  to  paint,  and  bring 
them  up  to  us,  with  a  plate  of  colours  rubbed  from  his 
own  paint-box,  to  afford  us  amusement  through  the  day. 
Then,  with  many  kisses  and  kind  words,  he  would 
promise  to  come  up  and  see  us  immediately  he  returned 
home, — a  promise  he  never  failed  to  keep." 

The  record  of  the  year  1835  must  not  pass  over  with- 
out some  notice  of  his  visit  to  Shakspere's  birth-place, 
which  is  thus  briefly  recorded  in  his  diary : — 

"  1835,  Oct.  27,  Tuesday.  Drew  Shakspeare's  House — 
went  over  it — made  impressions  of  his  tombstone,  &c.  .  .  . 
I  slept  in  Shakspeare's  House — drew  and  rhymed.  (Kit's  " 
—his  youngest  sister's — "  yth  Birthday.") 

He  was  on  a  ten  days'  tour  with  one  of  his  sisters,  in  the 
course  of  which  they  saw  Woodstock,  Blenheim,  Charle- 
cote,  Hampton  Lucy,  and  Stratford-on-Avon.  The  night 
of  the  2  jth  was  spent  by  him  on  an  oaken  settle  in  the 
room  shown  as  the  birth-place  of  Shakspere,  with  the 


44  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

expectation,  as  many  years  after  he  told  the  Rev.  John 
Pickford,  that  the  poetic  afflatus  would  visit  him  ;  but 
he  added  that  he  awoke  in  the  grey  dawn,  cold  and 
uncomfortable,  and  experienced  no  elevating  sensation 
whatever.  Mr.  Pickford,  who  was  present  in  the  family 
circle  at  Turvey,  when  Dean  Burgon  (as  he  then  was) 
narrated  this  disappointing  experience,  and  who  is  well 
versed  (if  any  man  ever  was)  in  old  traditions  and  the 
habits  of  thought  of  bygone  generations,  writes  in 
reference  to  this  incident  as  follows : — 

"  Perhaps  J.  W.  B.,  when  he  spent  the  night  on  the 
oak-settle  at  Stratford -on- A  von,  might  have  been  think- 
ing of  what  Persius  says  in  his  exordium : — 

'  Nee  in  bicipiti  somniasse  Parnasso 
Memini,  ut  repente  sic  poeta  prodirem.' 

(Nor  on  Parnassus'  two-peaked  height 
Remember  I  t'  have  dreamed  at  night, 
And  then  woke  up  in  twilight  gray, 
A  poet  at  the  spring  of  day.) 

"I  fancy  this  idea  is  very  universal.  The  Welsh 
proverb  says  that  'the  man  who  sleeps  on  Snowdon 
will  awake  a  poet.'  When  Dean  Burgon  told  me  of 
it,  I  quoted  (in  reference  to  the  rawness  of  the  early 
October  morning,  which  had  disenchanted  him)  the  lines 
of  Hudibras :  — 

'When,  like  a  lobster  boiled,  the  morn 
From  black  to  red  begins  to  turn.'" 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  following  year  (1836)  he 
did  experience  "  a  rapture,"  in  rather  more  favourable 
physical  surroundings,  over  Milton's  house. 

It  is  possible  that  some  may  regard  the  incident  of 
passing  the  night  on  the  oak-settle  as  a  fantastic  freak, 
a  piece  of  levity  inconsistent  with  seriousness  of  character. 
But  the  truth  is  that,  from  a  very  early  age,  the  study  to 


THE  EARLY  LIFE. 


45 


which  he  devoted  more  time  and  labour  than  any  other 
— always  excepting  that  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which 
drew  to  themselves  after  his  Ordination  ever  more  and 
more  his  cares,  his  pains,  his  studies, — was  that  of  Shak- 
spere,  the  sonnets  as  well  as  the  plays.  The  writer  has 
now  in  his  possession  a  manuscript  book  of  Burgon's  notes 
on  Shakspere  with  the  most  copious  memoranda  on  the 
Editions,  the  various  readings,  the  antiquated  expressions, 
and  the  loci  ctazsici  of  each  play  ;  and  from  certain  of 
these  memoranda  it  is  clear  that  he  had  in  contemplation 
an  edition  of  Shakspere,  with  a  commentary  and  a  life. 
The  notes  are  unfinished  (doubtless  from  the  fact  that  in 
later  life  the  pastoral  labours  and  the  sacred  studies  of 
the  Christian  Ministry  absorbed  too  much  of  his  time) ; 
but  a  page  is  left  for  each  play  with  a  heading,  of  which 
a  specimen  is  here  given  : — 


/ET.  41. 


KING  LEAR  25. 


1605  (Malone). 


Allusions  to 


9 

9 

3 

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c 

j 

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$ 

oi 
M 

u 

:, 

=. 

2 
P 

L-'- 

•3.   2 
/.  - 

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M 

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i 

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a 
-- 

II 

Only  two  or  three  of  these  pages,  with  their  counter- 
pages  on  the  left  hand  of  the  reader,  are  absolutely  desti- 
tute of  all  annotation.  The  eleven  earlier  ones  (Henry 
VI,  Part  I ;  Part  II ;  Part  III ;  Gentlemen  of  Verona ; 
Comedy  of  Errors  ;  Richard  II ;  Richard  III ;  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream  ;  Merchant  of  Venice  ;  Love's  Labour's 
Lost ;  Taming  of  the  Shrew,)  are  copiously  annotated  on 


46  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

both  page  and  counter-page.  His  scheme  seems  to  have 
been  to  exhibit  the  plays  in  the  chronological  order  in 
which  Shakspere  wrote  them. 

A  few  excerpts  from  these  Notes  and  Memoranda, 
which,  it  is  thought,  might  interest  the  reader,  are  given 
in  an  Appendix.  (See  Appendix  A.) 

But  before  passing  away  from  his  studies  in  Shak- 
spere, in  which,  as  well  as  other  literary  pursuits,  he 
found  a  great  relief  from  the  always  distasteful  drudgery 
of  his  father's  counting-house,  it  will  be  well  to  give  one 
or  two  passages  of  his  correspondence  with  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Hunter,  of  Sheffield  (b.  1783  ;  d.  1861),  an 
eminent  writer  on  British  Antiquities,  author  of  '  The 
History  and  Topography  of  the,  Parish  of  Sheffield]  and 
.  '  The  Hi-story  and  Topography  of  the  Deanery  of  Doncaster] 
whose  intimate  knowledge  of  ancient  writings  and 
minute  points  of  history  procured  him  in  1833  the 
appointment  of  Sub-Commissioner  of  the  Public  Records, 
and,  on  the  re-construction  of  the  Record  Office  in  1838, 
that  of  assistant-keeper  of  the  first  class. 

Here  is  the  letter  in  which  Burgon  opened  the  cor- 
respondence : — 

"  Reverend  Sir, — The  handwriting  of  this  letter  is  un- 
known to  you  ;  but  when  1  recall  to  your  memory  the 
conversation  you  had  with  a  stranger  the  other  night,  at 
the  party  given  by  our  friend  Mr.  Fellows,  you  will  easily 
recognise  the  writer.  It  is  with  reference  to  that  conversa- 
tion that  I  am  now  taking  the  liberty  of  addressing  you. 

"  I  believe  I  told  you  that  I  have,  for  some  years  past, 
devoted  all  the  leisure  I  have  had  at  my  disposal  to 
the  illustration  of  Shakspeare's 8  life.  Among  other  things 

8  In  the   correspondence  of  Mr.  latter  with  an  e  in  the  first  as  well 

Burgon  with  Mr.  Hunter  the  name  as  an  a  in  the  second.     Shakspere 

of  Shakspere   is  spelt  as  they  re-  himself  spelt  his  name  with  neither 

spectively  spell  it, — the  former  with  one   nor  the  other.      Six   genuine 

an   a   in   the  second   syllable,   the  signatures  of  his  are  in  existence, 


THE  EARLY  LIFE. 


47 


I  discovered,   unaided,   the   clue   to   his   sonnets ;    and 
have    pleased    myself  with    the   idea,    that    an    Essay 

them.  Nobody  ever  spells  Cecil's 
name  with  two  Is,  because  he  him- 
self so  spelt  it  six  hundred  times. 
Moreover,  many  eminent  persons 
have  spelt  their  names  in  two  or 
more  ways,  e.g.  Drydenand  Raleigh. 
The  spelling  of  our  great  poet's  name, 
which  has  been  sanctioned  for  250 
years  by  the  majority  of  cultivated 
and  well-educated  persons  is  indis- 
putably SHAKSPEARE  ;  and  to  depart 
from  this  established  mode'  of  ortho- 
graphy is  affected  and  pedantic. 
He  points  out,  as  regards  Shak- 
spere's acknowledged  -signatures,  that 
three  of  the  six  are  attached  to  one 
document,  his  will,  and  "  are  there- 
fore only  entitled  to  one  vote."  The 
three  others  he  makes  out  to  be 
dubious.  "  It  is  true,"  he  says, 
"  that  the  Parish  Clerk  of  Stratford 
spelt  the  name  Shakspere  27  times 
out  of  30  in  the  Parish  Register. 
But  Shakspeare's  daughter  and  her 
husband,  Dr.  Hall,  who  were  his 
executors,  and  certainly  raised  a 
monument  to  him,  spelt  his  name 
as  I  spell  it, — SHAKSPEARE.  If  her 
father  had  hinted  any  dislike  to  this 
spelling,  she  would  not  have  adopted 
it  for  his  monument."  But  the 
reader  who  desires  to  pursue  the 
subject  must  refer  for  himself  to  the 
articles  in  the  '  Gentleman 's  Maga- 
zine? They  are  extremely  charac- 
teristic, the  writer  being  assured 
that  his  conclusion  was  beyond  all 
controversy  the  right  one,  and  ex- 
pressing himself  with  the  vehemence 
of  an  impulsive  nature,  as  was 
always  J.  W.  B.'s  wont. 


"  three  attached  to  his  will,  and  two 
affixed  to  deeds  connected  with  the 
mortgage  and  sale  of  a  property  in 
Blackfriars,"  and  the  sixth  in  his 
copy  of  Montaigne's  Essays,  now  in 
the  British  Museum.  Moreover  in 
the  entries  of  his  baptism  and  burial 
in  the  Register  of  Stratford  Church, 
and  in  those  of  the  baptisms  of  his 
three  children,  and  of  the  burial  of 
his  son,  the  name  is  always  spelt 
SHAKSPERE.  [See  the  first  note  to 
the  Preface  to  Knight's  edition  of 
Shakspere,  from  which  the  above 
particulars  are  taken.]  It  is  thus 
spelt  therefore  in  this  narrative. 

The  author,  however,  is  quite 
sensible  that  by  adopting  this  mode 
of  spelling  a  world-famous  name,  he 
would  have  incurred  the  (literary) 
wrath  of  the  dear  friend  whose 
Biography  he  is  writing.  One  of 
Burgon's  articles  in  the  'Genth,, 
Magazine'  [March,  1840,  vol.  xiii. 
j>.  jfi.f]  i>  "  A  Reply  to  Mr.  John 
Bruce  on  the  Orthography  of 
Shakspeare's  name."  And  in  the 
following  May  [vol.  xiii.  p.  474] 
appeared  in  the  same  magazine  "  A 
Reply  to  Mr.  Bruce's  Reply  to  my 
former  Letter," — both  articles  signed 
with  his  name  at  full  length.  Mr. 
Bruce  had  contended  that  the  name 
should  be  spelt  Shakspere,  because 
this  was  the  continual  and  consis- 
tent usage  of  the  poet  himself. 
Burgon  replies  that  there  is  no 
proof  that  the  poet  invariably  spelt 
his  name  in  one  way,  and  some 
good  reasons  for  thinking  he  did 
not,  and  that  we  do  not  necessarily 
spell  names  as  their  owners  spelt 


48  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

on  the  subject,  at  some  future  period,  would  not  be 
unattended  with  the  approbation  of  men  whom  it  is  a 
merit  to  please.  I  have  accumulated  by  degrees,  obser- 
vations, having  reference  more  or  less  directly  to 
Shakspeare  ;  and  with  a  little  leisure  should  be  prepared 
to  publish  an  Essay  on  his  life. 

"  But  it  appears  that  you  have  been  yourself  for  many 
years  pursuing  the  same  inquiries,  and  that  on  certain 
subjects  we  have  come  to  the  same  conclusions.  Further, 
I  am  inclined  to  believe  from  your  conversation,  that  it 
is  your  intention,  sooner  or  later,  to  publish  something 
on  the  subject  of  Shakspeare. 

"  Now  Sir,  the  frank  and  liberal  style  in  which  you 
conversed  with  me  the  other  night  makes  me  desirous 
of  acting  in  a  manner  as  courteous  towards  yourself ; 
and  I  wish  to  know,  whether  it  would  give  you  pain,  or 
indeed  any  degree  of  displeasure,  that  I  should  proceed 
with  my  humble  Essay?  I  cannot  of  course  resolve 
this  question  for  myself,  because  I  am  ignorant  of  what 
your  own  particular  intentions  may  be  on  the  subject ; 
though  I  must  say,  they  appear  to  me  likely  to  be  on  so 
much  more  extensive  a  scale  than  the  extent  of  my 
leisure  has  ever  permitted  me  to  contemplate,  that  I 
can  scarcely  imagine  that  such  few  observations  as  I 
might  be  desirous  of  publishing,  would  interfere  very 
materially  with  you. — I  trust  that  you  will  regard  this 
letter  in  the  light  in  which  it  is  really  written,  and 
that  you  will  not  deem  the  spirit  of  it  either  as  inquisi- 
tive or  presumptuous.  My  only  wish  is,  to  avoid  giving 
you  hereafter  any  mortification  or  displeasure. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  with  much  respect, 

"  Your  most  obed*-  servant, 

"JOHN  W.  BURGON. 

"Tuesday  night,  Feb.  n,  1835. 

"u,  Brunswick  Square. 

"To    the    Rev.    Joseph    Hunter,    No.    30,    Torrington 
Square." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  49 

And  here  is  Mr.  Hunter's  answer,  written  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  courteously  informing  his  young  friend  that 
he  was  not  the  first  who  had  discovered  the  clue  to  Shak- 
spere's  Sonnets.  When  all  allowance  has  been  made  for 
the  complimentary  vein  of  the  letter  (arising  from  the 
natural  gratification  felt  by  Hunter  at  young  Burgon's 
deference  to  him  as  an  authority),  it  is  still  clear  that 
the  veteran  antiquarian  thought  highly  of  the  labours 
and  abilities  of  the  juvenile  one. 

"  30,  Torrington  Square,  February  1 2,  1 835. 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  meet  with  so  few  persons  who  are 
engaged  in  curious  investigations  connected  with  our 
early  literature,  that  it  is  quite  a  refreshment  and  a 
pleasure  to  find  that  such  investigations  are  being  pur- 
sued in  quarters  unsuspected.  I  heard  of  your  enquiries, 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  conducted,  and  of  the 
results,  with  no  other  feelings  than  those  of  satisfaction  ; 
and  so  far  from  wishing  them  to  cease,  or  from  wishing 
that  the  public  should  not,  as  speedily  as  to  you  may 
seem  meet,  enjoy  the  benefit  of  them,  I  most  earnestly 
desire  that  they  should  be  pursued,  and  I  anticipate  very 
high  gratification,  whenever  the  world  shall  be  favoured 
with  your  work. 

"  This  will  I  think  be  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  more 
material  part  of  the  truly  obliging  note  which  you  have 
addressed  to  me, — a  courtesy  demanding  from  me  the  most 
respectful  acknowledgment.  What  I  may  do  with  my 
own  collections  of  a  similar  nature,  I  can  by  no  means 
tell ;  I  may  go  on  collecting  and  planning  to  the  end  of 
life,  or  I  may  snatch  a  few  days  of  leisure  from  pursuits 
*  deeply  interesting  to  me  indeed,  but  little  congenial  with 
these,  and  throw  them  before  long  upon  the  great  heap 
of  Shakespear-criticism.  This  however  ought  not  to 
have,  and  cannot  have,  any  effect  on  your  operations, 
as  enquiries  so  entirely  independent  of  each  other  must 
needs  lead  to  very  different  particular  results,  whatever 
the  general  conclusions  may  be  ; — but  I  should  think  it 
a  very  great  misfortune,  if  my  humble  labours  in  this' 

VOL.  i.  E 


50  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

department  should  deprive  the  public  of  the  benefit  of 
enquiries  so  tasteful  and  so  judiciously  conducted  as 
yours,  or  yourself  of  the  high  honour  which  belongs  to 
such  successful  investigators  in  our  national  literature. 

"  The  point  itself,  that  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  was  the 
person  to  whom  most  part,  or  all,  of  the  Sonnets  were 
addressed,  you  will  have  perceived  is  no  secret,  as  you 
have  no  doubt  referred  to  the  volume  of  the  '  Gentleman  s 
Magazine'  to  which  I  referred  you.  Mr.  Boaden,  you  will 
perceive,  there  distinctly  announces  the  fact,  and  details 
some  part  of  the  evidence  by  which  the  conclusion  is 
supported.  I  had  corresponded  for  many  years  before 
that  time  with  the  friend  who  is  named  in  my  letter,  on 
this  very  point.  It  was  indeed  his  discovery,  not  mine  : 
and  it  may  be  some  satisfaction  to  you  to  hear  that  no 
one  will  rejoice  more  than  he  in  the  appearance  of  your 
Essay.  But  though  the  fact  itself  cannot  therefore  be 
considered  in  the  light  of  '  a  secret,'  there  are  inferences 
to  be  drawn  from  it  of  a  most  curious  nature,  which  may 
equally  entitle  him  who  draws  them  to  the  merit  of  a 
discoverer,  and  a  discoverer  in  a  region  unknown,  but  full 
of  surprise  and  curiosity. 

"  I  remain,  with  the  truest  respect, 

"  Dear  Sir, 
"  Your  obliged  and  very  faithful  servant, 

"JOSEPH  HUNTER. 
"  John  W.  Burgon,  Esq." 

The  correspondence  between  Mr.  Hunter  and  the 
young  friend  who  had  such  a  sympathy  with  him  in 
his  Shaksperian  studies,  and  in  antiquarian  subjects 
generally,  was  carried  on  during  the  latter  part  of  1835 
and  the  earlier  part  of  1 836,  and  witnesses  to  an  acquaint- 
ance of  Burgon  with  general  literature,  which  at  his  age, 
and  gained  as  it  was  during  the  short  intervals  of  leisure 
which  his  occupations  at  the  counting-house  allowed  of, 
is  truly  surprising. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  51 

From  this  digression  on  the  Shaksperian  studies,  which 
engrossed  him  so  largely  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life, 

we  return  to  our  narrative. 

. 

Some  two  or  three  years  after  the  publication  of  the 
translation  of  Brb'ndsted's  monograph  on  the  Panathena'ic 
Vases  an  announcement  was  made  in  the  City  that 
"  a  prize  would  be  given  by  William  Taylor  Copeland, 
Esq.,  then  Lord  Mayor,  to  the  author  of  the  best  Essay 
'  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham ; ' 
which  was  to  be  comprised  within  such  limits,  that  the 
public  recitation  of  it  should  not  exceed  half  an  hour." 
Young  Burgon  was  connected  with  the  City  by  his 
employment  in  his  father's  counting-house  ;  he  had  been 
born  and  bred  in  commercial  circles ;  and  thus  Gresham 
in  the  sixteenth  century  \fj.  1519  ;  d.  1579],  son  of  a  Lord 
Mayor,  "the  royal  merchant"  as  he  was  called,  who  had 
furnished  out  of  his  own  purse  the  funds  for  building 
the  Royal  Exchange 9  (the  merchants  had  hitherto  trans- 
acted their  business  in  the  open  air),  was  likely,  inde- 
pendently of  any  desire  to  win  a  prize,  to  be  an  attractive 
subject  to  him,  falling  in  as  it  did  with  his  immediate 
surroundings.  We  learn  from  a  private  letter,  bearing  A.D.  1836. 
date  March  15,  1836,  that  Mr.  Renouard,  who  as  English  *' 23' 
Chaplain  at  Smyrna  in  1813  had  baptized  him, — an 
eminent  Orientalist,  an  elegant  scholar,  and  a  man  of 

9  It  may  be  added  that  the  house  traffic  of  the  Gresham  family  with 

of  Gresham  traded  in  the  Levant,  the  Levant  is  supplied  by  the  will 

,^md  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  of    Lady    Isabella    Gresham     (Sir 

.  earliest   English  houses  which  did  John's  sister-in-law),  where  particu- 

BO,  and  that  Mr.  Thomas  Burgon  lar  mention  is  made  of  her  '  Turkey 

also,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  carpets,' — a    great    luxury    for    a 

Memoir,  was,  as  has  been  already  private  individual,  in  an  age  when 

said,  a  Turkey  merchant,  and  an  as-  rushes  formed  part  of  the  furniture 

Bociate  in  the  Levant  Company,  and  of  the  court."     Burgon's  '  Life  and 

had  a  house  of  business  at  Smyrna.  Times  of  Gresham,'  vol.  i.  p.  la. 
"  Another  illustration  of  the  early 

E  2 


52  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

high  general  cultivation, — had  offered  to  look  over  the 
manuscript  before  it  was  sent  in.  Young  Burgon 
availed  himself  gladly  of  so  advantageous  an  offer.  In 
a  letter  of  not  quite  three  weeks  afterwards  (April  2, 
1836)  he  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  Mr.  Renouard's 
criticisms; — where  the  suggested  alterations  have  been 
verbal,  "  I  have  adopted  them  without  hesitation  ;  where 
the  sentiment  is  concerned,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
weighing  them  a  little,  and,  though  I  have  invariably 
availed  myself  of  the  sagacious  interlinear  pencilling, 
there  yet  remain  some  few  passages  which  I  have  noted, 
as  passages  about  which  I  should  like  to  say  a  few 
words  to  you."  Further  on  in  the  same  letter  he  gives 
an  account  of  the  method  in  which  the  Essay  had  been 
drawn  up,  which  deserves  to  be  quoted  as  illustrative 
both  of  his  habit  of  postponing  work  to  the  last  moment 
(a  habit  which  clung  to  him  in  the  composition  of  his 
sermons,  in  which  he  was  occasionally  so  pressed  for 
time  that  the  manuscript  was  only  finished  just  before 
the  bell  for  the  service  at  which  he  was  to  preach  went 
down),  and  of  the  indefatigable  industry  and  research 
characteristic  of  his  every  literary  effort : — 

"  The  truth  is,  that  I  acted  very  foolishly  in  the  way 
I  wrote  it.  I  deferred,  from  want  of  leisure,  turning  my 
thoughts  to  the  subject,  till  within  a  very  few  weeks  of 
the  day  appointed  for  the  compositions  to  be  sent  in  to 
the  worthies  who  were  to  pronounce  on  their  merits. 
When  at  last  the  time  drew  near,  I  obtained  permission 
from  iny  father  to  pass  a  few  days  at  the  British 
Museum.  Here,  to  my  great  astonishment,  I  discovered, 
that  what  I  contemplated  as  a  mere  Essay,  was  capable 
of  being  amplified  into  something  very  like  a  Life. 
I  found  letters — original,  and  written  in  the  very 
crampest  hands — official  documents,  and,  above  all,  an 
immense  mass  of  really  useful  information  concerning 
my  hero  ;  scattered  however  of  course,  up  and  down,  in 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  53 

all  manner  of  out  of  the  way  books.  ...  I  assure  you, 
Sir,  for  the  week  or  so  I  passed  in  .the  Reading-room 
pursuing  this  inquiry,  I  worked  as  few  of  the  readers 
there  have  done.  The  iron  fist  of  time  was  pressing 
upon  me ;  and  if  I  failed  to  bring  my  work  to  an  end  by 
the  appointed  time,  there  was  but  one  alternative,  to 
abandon  the  undertaking  altogether,  a  thing  not  to  be 
thought  of  with  me.  When  the  evening  came,  I  used  to 
sit  up  in  my  lodgings  (it  was  during  the  repairs  of  our 
house)  and  I  never  rose  from  my  papers  till  my  hand 
was  literally  too  weary  to  guide  my  pen,  or  my  brain 
too  tired  to  guide  either.  I  used  first  to  transcribe  in 
a  fair  hand  the  scarcely  legible  note  I  had  made  at  the 
Museum ; — then,  as  collectedly  as  I  was  able,  to  weave 
them  into  a  kind  of  story,  and  I  was  finally  only  able  to 
finish  transcribing  my  Essay  into  the  book  you  have 
seen,  by  half  past  two  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  the  Essays  to  be  sent  in ;  so  that  I  literally 
never  once  read  over  what  I  had  written,  till  my  MS. 
was  returned  to  me  from  Crosby  Square.  .  .  .  Pardon  this 
long  egotistical  paragraph — I  did  not  know  that  it  was 
going  to  extend  over  so  much  paper  .  .  .  but  I  could  not 
suppress  it  altogether ;  for  it  really  seems  scarcely  proper 
to  trouble  a  kind  friend  with  a  composition  containing 
so  many  obvious  inaccuracies. 

"  I  must  still  go  over  it  once  more  with  a  microscopic 
eye  ;  for  the  pointing,  and  other  such  nitga,  comparatively 
unimportant  as  they  are  in  MS.,  look  terribly  distinct 
when  they  come  to  be  printed. — I  have  written  to 
Hamburg,  and  to  Antwerp,  on  the  subject  of  Sir  Thomas 
Gresham,  and  I  have  been  assured  from  good  authority, 
that  many  an  archive  that  has  slumbered  for  centuries, 
1  has  been  disturbed,  and  is  undergoing  examination,  at  both 
places,  for  my  sake.  Do  you  know  Dr.  Lappenburg 1  ? 

1  So  J.  W.  B.  spells  the  name.  Chapter  of  the  Church  of  Hamburg. 

Johsnn  Martin  Lappenberg  was  an  He  doubtless  was  one  of  the  per- 

eminent  German  historian,  born  at  sons  to  whom  Burgon  had  written 

Hamburg   in   1794,  where  he  was  to  institute  researches  about  Gres- 

appointed  by  the  Senate  of  the  City  ham.     When   in    London,  Lappen- 

of  the  Rolls,  and  where  he  berg    often    joined    the    circle    iu 

discovered    the    Archives    of    the  Brunswick  Square. 


54  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  My  paper  warns  me  to  conclude — but  I  will  not  do 
so  till  I  have  begged  to  be  most  kindly  remembered  to 
your  amiable  sisters — (I  wish  the  world  contained  more 
such  ladies) — and  till  I  have  offered  you  my  share  of 
thanks  for  all  your  kindnesses  to  Caroline  and  Tom. 

"  Believe  me  most  respectfully,  dear  Sir, 
"  Your  obliged  and  affectionate 

"JOHN    W.    BURGOX." 

Shortly  after  the  date  of  the  above  letter  (April  2, 
1836),  and  before  the  public  reading  at  the  Mansion 
House  of  the  abbreviated  Gresham  Essay  (May  14  of  the 
same  year)  the  first  great  shadow  fell  upon  his  life, — 
a  shadow  which  contributed  with  later  sorrows  to  give 
a  tinge  of  melancholy  to  his  character,  contrasting 
strangely  with,  and  throwing  up  into  relief,  the  occa- 
sional hilariousness  of  his  buoyant  spirits.  This  was  the 
death  of  his  little  sister  Katharine  Margaret  (-'Kitty"), 
born  Oct.  27,  1828,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  attached, 
and  of  whose  pretty  childish  ways  and  words  he  had 
long  been  observant,  as  appears  from  sundry  memoranda 
in  his  Journal. 

The  circumstances  of  this  dear  child's  death  and 
burial  were  deemed  by  him  worthy  of  a  special  journal, 
which  he  calls,  "  The  Journal  of  my  sorrows "  ;  and 
justice  would  hardly  be  done  to  the  extraordinary 
sensibility  of  John  William  Burgon,  both  as  regards 
his  love  of  young  children,  and  his  affection  for  kin- 
dred, unless  the  reader  were  presented  with  a  slight 
sketch  of  the  contents  of  this  journal  and  one  or  two 
extracts  from  it.  Kitty  had  been  ailing  since  Thursday, 
April  14,  but  her  sore  throat  was  so  much  better  on 
Saturday,  the  23rd,  that  "  she  ran  about  the  house  and 
resumed  all  her  dear  old  ways,"  and  her  brother  went 
with  a  light  heart  to  visit  Mr.  Renouard  at  Swans- 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  55 

combe,  and  to  confer  with  him  about  the  Gresham  Essay, 
in  which  Renouard  had  detected  "  several  inaccuracies." 

It  was.  however,  but  a  'momentary  gleam  of  sunshine, 
upon  which  the  clouds  were  soon  to  close  in  again  thicker 
than  ever.  When  he  reached  home  on  Monday,  the 
25th,  he  found  that  the  child's  "  throat  gave  evidence  of 
a  worse  state  " ;  the  complaint  was  pronounced  to  be  an 
"  ulcer  creeping  downwards,  and  making  for  the  wind- 
pipe— one  of  the  gates  of  life  " ;  and  the  family  were 
assured  by  the  medical  practitioners  that  the  only  chance 
of  recovery  was  the  opening  of  the  wind-pipe.  He  darts 
otf  for  the  specialist  who  is  recommended,  and  holds  the 
child  down  during  the  operation,  which,  however,  proves 
unsuccessful. 

.  .  .  "Three  or  four  times  did  she  make  signs  that  she 
wanted  something ;  for  I  told  her,  as  often  as  she  wanted 
something,  to  lift  up  her  hand ;  and  what  do  you  sup- 
pose the  angel  wanted?  when  I  approached  my  face, 
I  found  all  she  desired  was  to  embrace  me ;  she  passed 
her  thin  poor  hand  round  my  neck,  and  in  that  un- 
comfortatle  posture, — uncomfortable  to  herself,  I  mean 
—held  me  for  half  a  minute  at  a  time ;  once  she  even 
raised  her  parched  lips  to  kiss  me,  and  every  time  I 
approached  her  face,  I  kissed  her  and  called  her  the 
names  I  knew  she  would  like  best." 

Frightened  at  first  by  the  thought  that  she  was  going 
to  die, 

"  'Johnny,'  she  said,  'jx-ay;'  and  while  she  of  her  own  ac- 
cord folded  her  little  hands,  and  looked  up  to  Heaven,  I 

prayed  aloud Presently  she  said  she  was  '  better  now,' 

and  folded  her  hands  again.  I  then  repeated  the  Lord's 
Prayer  to  her,  and  she  nodded  approbation.  She  subse- 
quently often  looked  up.  and  I  reminded  her  of  many  con- 
soling things,  and  told  her  of  the  angels,  and,  I  am  sure, 
comforted  her.  She  grew  much  calmer  and  happier,  and 
seemed  to  have  no  more  religious  misgivings. .  . .  And  here 
let  me  pause  and  reflect  what  awful  moments  must  those 


56  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

have  been  to  my  angelic  Kate,  with  which  I  am  dealing  so 
briefly.  When  she  asked  me  if  she  was  going  to  die, doubt- 
less the  advancing  shadows  of  death  were  falling  upon  her 
soul.  It  must  be  an  awful  sensation  that  of  dying ;  one, 
to  which  the  external  appearances  are  no  real  index  ; 
paleness  means  nothing,  tells  nothing  ;  but  in  the  '  secret 
closure  of  the  breast,'  in  the  inmost  heart,  there  must  be 
a  deep  and  indefinable  dread, — a  consciousness  of  some 
great  change — one  cannot  tell  what — the  ground  must 
seem  sinking  from  beneath  one,  the  scene  must  seem 
growing  misty  around  one~,  and  on  the  '  prophetic  soul,' 
already  loosening  its  connexion  with  the  clay,  must  begin 
to  dawn  the  awful  glories  of  an  eternal  morning.  It 
must  be  terrible,  all  alone,  to  have  to  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  Death,  to  know  that  none  of 
those  around  you  can  participate  in  the  perils  of  the 
journey,  that  He,  whom  we  have  never  yet  known  than 
as  the  object  of  prayer,  is  to  be  our  Guide,  and  that  an 
instant  will  bring  us  into  His  dread  presence,  which, 
though  one  knows  it  to  be  at  all  times  near,  one  fancies  at 
all  times  to  be  immeasurably  distant.  I  say  it  must  be  an 
awful  thing  to  die ;  and  when  afterwards  I  looked  on 
Kitty's  lifeless  face,  I  surveyed  it  and  her  wijh  a  deep 

2  One  is  reminded  of  the  opening  And  could  fall  back  on  nought  to 

of  Cardinal  Newman's  '  Dream  of  be  my  stay, 

Gerontius'     written     many    years  (Help,  loving  Lord!  Thou  my  sole 

afterwards : —  Refuge,  Thou,) 

"  Pray  for  me,   0   my  friends  ;  a  And  turn  no  whither,  but  must 

visitant  needs  decay 

Is  knocking  his  dire  summons  And  drop  from  out  the  uni- 

at  my  door,  versal  frame 

The  like  of  whom,  to  scare  me  Into    that    shapeless,    scopeless, 

and  to  daunt,  blank  abyss, 

Has  never,  never  come  to  me  That    utter    nothingness,   of 

before ;  which  I  came  : 

"Tis    death, — 0    loving    friends,  This  is  it  that  hath  come  to  pass 

your  prayers  ! — 'tis  he !  ...  in  me ; 

As  though  my  very  being  had  Oh,    horror !      this     it    is,    my 

given  way,  dearest,  this  ; 

As  though  I  was  no  more  a  sub-  So  pray  for  me,  my  friends,  who  have 

stance  now,  not  strength  to  pray." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  57 

respectful  aw'e.  Little,  weak,  helpless,  dear  child,  thought 
I.  whom,  while  you  lived,  I  considered  as  a  tender  play- 
thing, and  trembled  lest  the  very  winds  should  visit  thee 
too  roughly.  I  taught  thee,  and  unfolded  thy  young 
mind  as  tenderly  as  sunshine  unfolds  the  sweet  blossom 
of  the  rose  ;  for  thou  wast  young,  and  more  ignorant  than 
I ;  but  now  Death  hath  made  thee  the  wiser  of  the  twain. 
All  that  the  wisest  man  on  earth  knows  is  foolishness 
compared  with  what  thou  knowest ;  thou,  in  thy  inno- 
cence, in  thy  helplessness,  hast  wrestled  with  the  con- 
queror ;  thy  agony  is  over,  thy  race  is  run ;  all  that  I 
dread,  yet  wish  to  know,  thou  knowest ;  the  mysteries  of 
Heaven  have  been  revealed  to  thy  sense.  My  sister,  I 
bow  to  thee  now ! 

Oh  sweet  one,  think  sometimes,  when  thou  art  in  Para- 
dise, of  me — think  of  thy  old  friend  and  brother,  and  be 
my  ministering  angel ! ' 

Dr.  Leemans,  an  attached  friend  of  the  family,  had 
gi\  en  the  child  a  rose-tree  a  little  time  back. 

"  I  remember  the  delight  that  rose-tree  gave  her,  when 
she  first  possessed  it.  It  had  then  but  one  flower  in 
bloom,  and  the  rest  were  in  buds.  Alas  !  the  flower  she 
loved  was  withering,  but  fresh  blossoms  were  unfolding 
around  it !  Kitty  was  dead  ;  but  the  rose  was  living — 
blooming,  fresh,  and  green,  and  strong ! !  Some  of  the 
flowers  and  leaves  were  subsequently  scattered  in  her 
coffin,  where  they  looked  very  lovely.  The  rose-tree 
itself  I  have  taken  out  of  its  mould,  and  preserved,  root 
and  all,  in  paper. 

| 

In  the  evening  came  the  leaden  coffin.  I  stood  at  the 
door  trembling,  while  the  men  deposited  within  it  the 
darling  form  of  my  sister.  Terrible  as  it  was  to  me,  I 
was  determined  that  her  Jonah  "  (the  child's  way  of  pro- 
nouncing Johnnie),  "whom  she  loved  so  dearly,  should  see 
her  gently  handled,  and  stand  by  through  every  scene, 
even  to  the  last." 


58  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

On  Monday,  May  2,  the  funeral  took  place,  and  Katie 
was  interred  in  the  Church  of  St.  Stephen's,  Wai- 
brook.  With  the  other  members  of  the  family  he  goes 
into  the  vault,  and  sees  her  deposited  there,  and  sketches 
from  memory  in  "  the  Journal  of  my  sorrows  "  the  posi- 
tion of  the  coffins.  Kitty,  however,  was  not  to  lie  there 
for  ever.  The  dear  child  will  come  before  the  reader 
again.  Thirty-one  years  after  she  was  to  share,  with 
several  of  the  mediaeval  saints,  the  honour  of  a  "  Trans- 
lation." She  was  enshrined  in  the  heart  of  her  brother ; 
and  he  longed  to  have  her  grave  in  the  place  of  his 
residence,  that  he  might  pay  it  constant  visits,  and  there 
indulge  in  all  the  tender  recollections  which  the  thought 
of  her  never  failed  to  summon  up  in  his  mind. 

Most  touching  are  some  of  these  reminiscences,  which 
he  has  committed  to  paper  on  August  14  of  the  same 
year,  when  he  finds  himself  "  oppressed  with  a  profound 
melancholy,"  and  "  does  not  know  what  to  do  to  console 
himself."  We  are  told  of  the  extraordinary  affectionate- 
ness  of  the  child,  of  her  sensitive  delicacy,  of  her  fear  of 
giving  pain,  of  her  anxiety  to  give  pleasure  even  in  mere 
trifles ;  of  all  her  little  winning  ways  and  frolicsome  talk 
with  him,  when  he  used  to  come  in  from  the  Counting- 
house  ("  I  used  to  praise  her  for  the  excellence  of  her 
tone,  and  say  in  the  tone  of  La  ci  darem  la  mano,  '  I 
know  who's  a  fine  girl ;  her  name  is  Kit^ ' ;  to  which 
her  reply  always  was,  with  a  slight  variation,  '  I  know 
who's  a  fine  boy;  his  name  is  Jo«<?r'"),  and  how  "she 
used  regularly  every  morning  to  trot  into  Mamma's 
room  at  seven  o'clock  to  wake  her.  I  believe  the 
missing  of  that  little  creature's  moving  round  the  foot 
of  the  bed  every  morning  has  occasioned  more  grief  to 
father  and  mother  than  the  sight  of  her  ever  occasioned 

joy." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  59 

He  says  in  the  course  of  these  reminiscences ;  "I 
shed  tears  while  I  write  of  such  things."  It  is  a  little 
hard  sometimes  to  keep  the  eyes  dry  while  reading  of 
them. 

But  we  must  return  from  this  long  digression  to  his 
'  Life  and  Times  of  Grex/iain.'  The  work  at  the  British 
Museum  having  opened  out  new  sources  of  information, 
and  brought  to  light  a  vast  accumulation  of  materials, 
which  he  was  not  at  all  prepared  for,  when  he  first  ad- 
dressed himself  to  his  task,  "  the  Essay,  instead  of  forming 
a  slight  pamphlet,  as  was  anticipated,  soon  assumed  the 
size  of  a  small  volume."  It  won  the  prize,  however,  and 
the  condition  imposed  by  the  Lord  Mayor  as  to  the  limits 
which  the  public  recitation  was  not  to  exceed,  having 
been  complied  with  by  selecting  "  such  portions  of  it  as 
seemed  best  adapted  for  the  purpose,"  these  "  were  pub- 
licly read  at  the  Mansion  House,  May  T4th,  i  836,  the  office 
of  reader  having  been  undertaken  with  singular  kindness 
by  the  Rev,  George  Cecil  Renouard,  B.D."  (whom  we 
have  already  seen  revising  and  amending  it)  "  Rector  of 
Swanscombe,  Kent ;  of  the  value  of  whose  long-standing 
friendship"  (it  was  "a  friendship  a  baptisterio"  as 
Burgon  called  it, — dating  from  the  Baptismal  Font) 
"  the  writer  is  deeply  sensible,  and  whose  good  offices  on 
this,  and  many  other  occasions,  he  gladly  avails  himself 
of  the  present  opportunity  to  acknowledge  3." 

It  appears  that,  notwithstanding  his  week's  researches 
in  the  British  Museum,  Burgon  found  that  there  was  still 
much  to  be  discovered  respecting  Sir  Thomas  Gresham 
in  other  quarters,  and  that  his  Essay,  notwithstanding 
his  enlargement  of  it  in  bulk,  beyond  anything  he  had 

3  Preface  to  Burgon's  'Life  and  Times  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,' 
pp.  viii,  ix. 


60  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

originally  contemplated,  would  still  want  the  fulness 
which  might  have  been  given  to  it,  had  the  writer  had 
access  to  other  sources.  For  on  May  30,  1836.  we  find 
him  at  Oxford 4,  bent  upon  prosecuting  his  subject  still 
further  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  Here  his  reception  by 
Dr.  Bandinel,  then  Librarian  of  the  Bodleian,  to  whom 
he  presented  two  letters  of  introduction,  seems  to  have 
disappointed  him ;  and  from  the  first  day  of  his  study 
in  the  great  Library  he  reaped  little  or  nothing.  But 
having  "heard  a  young  fellow  say  something  about 
nightingales  in  Bagley  Wood,"  he  consoles  himself  very 
characteristically  by  finding  his  way  thither  to  hear 
them,  seeing  en  route  a  boat-race  ("  pretty  sight,  so  full 
of  youth  and  lustihood").  The  nightingales  were  not 
as  disappointing  as  Dr.  Bandinel ;  for  two  of  them  sang 
to  him  "  wonderfully  loud  and  sweetly  "  ("  moon  up,  and 
some  stars — thought  of  dear  Kit  ' — the  little  sister,  whom 
he  had  lost  in  the  preceding  month).  Next  day  (Tuesday, 
May  31),  after  a  breakfast  with  Mr.  Brancker  at  Wadham, 
Dr.  Bliss  the  Registrar  of  the  University,  "a  small,  white- 
haired  man,  with  an  acute  benevolent  face/'  joined  the 
nightingales  in  soothing  his  ruffled  spirit  and  making  up 
for  Dr.  Bandinel ; — "  he  received  me  with  much  kindness 
— entered  into  my  views,  and  appointed  me  to-morrow 
to  come  to  him  again:  meantime  he  accompanied  me 
to  the  Bodleian:  and  put  Catalogue  of  MSS.  into  my 
hands — read  all  day  in  the  Bodleian."  He  prosecutes 
his  researches  for  information  about  Gresham  in  "the 
Ashmole  Library,"  and,  under  the  auspices  of  his  kind 

4  The  sister  University  he  appears  other  objects  of  interest,  makes  a 

by  his  Journal  to  have  visited  in  few  sketches,  and  spends  a  day  at 

1833  (the  year,  as  already  noted,  of  the  Pepysian  Library.  He  returned 

his  earliest  publication)  on  Sept.  23.  to    London,    October    3,    after    an 

He  records  little  of  this  visit.     He  absence  often  days, 
sees  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum  and 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  61 

friend  Dr.  Bliss,  in  the  Library  of  St.  John's  College. 
On  the  following  day  (Wednesday,  June  i)  after  he 
had  dined  at  the  Angel,  where  he  had  put  up,  follows 
the  account  (too  characteristic  to  be  omitted)  of  his 
making  his  way  to  Forest  Hill,  "where  Milton's  wife 
lived,  and  where  Milton  must  have  passed  some  of  his 
time." 

"  I  unfortunately  took  the  road  to  Shotorer  Hill,  which 
threw  me  some  miles  out  of  my  way.  I  scampered 
across  the  country,  and  approached  Forest  Hill  as  the 
night  was  coming  on.  or  rather  the  twilight.  The  neigh- 
bourhood seemed  picturesque  and  Allegro-like ;  and 
something, — I  know  not  what, — told  me,  when  I  reached 
the  summit  of  a  slight  ascent,  that  I  was  standing  on 
holy  ground.  I  walked  round  a  little  church,  and  thro' 
a  farmyard  and  stood  before  a  cottage.  I  saw  a  young 
woman  standing  at  the  door.  '  Pray,  did  not  Milton  live 
here  once,  or  somewhere  hereabouts  1 '  '  Milton — O  O  ! 
that's  a  smart  way  from  here.'  '  I  don't  mean  the  place 
called  Milton; — I  mean  a  man  who  once  lived  here,  and 
bore  that  name,'  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  '  Well,  but  what  was  he  ? 
Was  he  a  farmer  or  a  tradesman,  or  any  thin'  o'  that  1 ' 
'  Oh !  farmer ! '  thought  I. — I  explained  to  the  damsel 
as  well  as  I  could  that  the  author  of  Paradise  Lost  was 
what  men  call  a  Poet,  &c.  It  ended  by  the  farmer 
coming  out  to  our  assistance. — Milton's  house  has  been 
pulled  down  forty  years.  Some  old  men  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, the  farmer  told  me,  could  remember  the  place. 
It  must,  I  should  think,  have  been  nearly  contiguous 
with  the  house  tenanted  by  my  cicerone.  On  the  site 
grow  some  apple  trees.  The  steps  (two  or  three)  of 
Milton's  house  remain ;  so  does  the  garden-wall,  and  the 
gateway  that  led  up  to  the  door,  though  the  gateway  has 
been  blocked  up.  There  is  a  smaller  gate  hard  by,  which 
has  been  left  open.  On  a  neighbouring  barn  there  is  a 
barbarous  Adam  and  Eve  and  the  tree,  &c.,  done  in  stucco 
lias-ivlicf — surprised  me  not  a  little. — It  is  a  touching 
thought  that  all  that  neighbourhood  was  familiar  to 
Milton ! 


62  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"I  leaned  over  the  low  garden-wall  in  the  twilight, 
watching  the  evening  star,  and  felt  perhaps  as  much 
rapture  as  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances  I 
could  have  hoped  to  derive  from  a  visit  to  the  place  .  .  . 
I  got  back  to  Oxford  at  1 1  o'clock  very  tired — took  tea 
— wrote  Tom  and  Emily  "  (his  only  brother,  three  years 
younger  than  himself,  and  his  second  sister,  six  years 
younger),  "and  went  to  roost." 

The  next  day  he  breakfasts  and  dines  with  Mr.  Rogers 
(afterwards  Sir  Frederick,  and  eventually  Lord  Blachford) 
who  shows  him  great  kindness  and  asks  him  to  meet  at 
dinner  three  men  who  were  to  become  celebrities, — Arch- 
deacon Harrison,  Dean  Liddell,  and  Professor  Mozley. 

But  neither  these  hospitalities,  nor  Dr.  Bliss,  nor  the 
evening  star  stealing  out  to  shed  its  placid  ray  on 
Milton's  garden-wall,  nor  all  these  together,  had  quite 
reconciled  him  to  the  reception  he  had  met  with  at  the 
Bodleian  and  other  libraries.  For  after  recording  a  break- 
fast with  Dr.  Buckland  next  day,  and  copying  the  inscrip- 
tion on  Dr.  Burton's  tomb  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral 
("  very  uncomfortably ;  for  Buckland  would  keep  standing 
all  the  time"),  he  explodes  in  his  Journal  more  suo,  and  the 
passage  is  worth  quoting,  because  it  contrasts  so  curiously 
with  his  sentiments  respecting  Oxford  in  later  days, when 
he  himself  had  become  part  and  parcel  of  it,  and  shows 
how  personal  connexion  with  an  institution  wholly  alters 
the  point  of  view,  from  which  it  was  regarded  and  criti- 
cized ab  extra. 

"  Oxford  is  certainly  a  most  infernally  ill-governed 
place.  There  being  no  acknowledged  principal,  and  the 
scholastic  habits  of  the  people  making  them  naturally 
indolent  and  lazy  "  (the  difference  between  the  adminis- 
tration of  Oxford  and  that  of  the  British  Museum  is 
working  in  his  mind),  "  the  supreme  command  by  in- 
direct circumstances  generally  devolves  (for  it  must 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  63 

devolve  somewhere)  into  the  hands  of" — some  one  (it  is 
better  to  omit  his  too  strong  language) — "  who  enacts 
rigorous  laws,  or  sanctions  old  abuses,  till  the  whole 
place  becomes  like  one  vast  cobweb ;  so  that,  fly  which 
way  you  will  out  of  the  direct  line,  you  get  entangled. 
In  fact,  the  place  seems  designed  for  one  sole  purpose, 
viz.  the  accommodation  of  overgrown  schoolboys.  For 
this  I  confess  the  arrangements  are  admirable ;  there 
are  good  masters,  good  lodgings,  and  there  is  quiet.  But 
surely  this  is  not  a  legitimate  and  sufficient  use  for 
Oxford — the  ancient — the  sacred — the  learned — the 
venerable — the  storehouse  of  wit,  and  the  repository  of 
literary  research  ?  The  stranger  (for  whom  such  treasures 
are  surely  in  part  accumulated!)  is  baulked  at  every 
step.  Does  he  want  to  see  a  library  ?  He  has  to 
rummage  out  a  nameless  librarian,  who  knows  nothing 
of  what  is  placed  under  his  charge,  nor  desires  to  know 
— an  old  boy,  who  has  crammed  enough  Greek,  Latin, 
and  Logic,  to  enable  him  without  shame  to  pass  an  ex- 
amination, and  who  now  eats,  and  drinks, and  does  nothing 
on  the  strength  of  having  sweated  in  his  youth." 

It  is  probable  that  this  disappointment  at  Oxford  may 
have  contributed  towards,  if  it  was  not  the  sole  cause  of, 
the  temporary  abandonment  of  the  design  of  publishing  the 
Gresham  Essay.  At  all  events,  in  the  Preface  to  the  work 
[p.  ix]  he  indicates  that  it  had  been  laid  aside  for  a  time. 
The  next  year  indeed  we  find  him  again  in  Oxford;  but  A.D.  1837. 
with  no  design  apparently  of  prosecuting  his  researches 
into  Gresham's  Life  and  Times.  He  went  there  for  a 
three  days'  holiday  with  his  elder  sister,  and  saw  and 
_^did  a  great  deal  in  that  short  space  of  time.  To  his 
great  disappointment,  he  found  the  Bodleian  closed, 
"this  being  the  season  of  its  visitation,"  but  is  com- 
pensated by  becoming  acquainted  with  Mr.  Newman 
"  who  makes  such  a  noise  just  now  in  Oxford,"  and  hear- 
ing him  read  Prayers  "in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  St.  Mary's, 
and  deliver  a  short  discourse."  "He  seemed  austere 


64  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

and  sickly ;  there  was  something  peculiar  about  his 
manner  ;  for  instance,  he  read  in  rather  a  peculiar  style, 
and  observed  sundry  slight  unusual  forms,  such  as  read- 
ing from  the  first  step  of  the  altar,  and  dropping  on  his 
knees  on  the  next  step,  when  he  had  occasion  to  kneel." 
Afterwards,  at  the  rooms  of  Mr.  Browell,  of  Pembroke 
College  (who  showed  the  strangers  every  kind  of  hospi- 
tality, and  acted  as  cicerone  to  them),  "I  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  five  minutes'  talk  with  Mr.  Newman,  who 
looked  in  for  not  much  more  than  ten  minutes.  Browell 
had  invited  him  to  dine  with  us,  but  he  was  engaged 
elsewhere.  I  was  much  pleased  with  his  early  retreat, — 
a  custom  of  self-denial  practised  by  him  on  all  occasions, 
as  a  young  clergyman  told  me.  Mr.  Newman,  after  he 
has  retired  to  his  apartments,  occupies  himself  until  a 
very  late  hour."  Not  only  Mr.  Browell,  but  other 
Academical  celebrities — Mr.  Palmer  of  Magdalen  College 
(who  "  talked  of  nothing  but  Ecclesiastical  History  for 
two  hours,  so  that,  listening  to  him,  I  scarcely  could 
attend  to  the  beauty  of  the  walks,  pictures,  architecture, 
or  any  thing  else "),  Mr.  Henry  Burrows  of  St.  John's, 
Dr.  Buckland  of  Christ  Church,  and  Mr.  Clough  of  Jesus, 
showed  the  brother  and  sister  much  kindness  and 
attention,  the  latter  "  giving  us  a  splendid  dinner !  I  will 
only  record  the  entree  of  a  Welsh  rabbit,  eaten  on  toasted 
bread,  sopped  in  a  mess  of  ale,  negus,  sherry,  &c.  I  did 
not  like  it ;  but  it  was  genuine  Welsh.  The  liquor  did 
duty  as  a  grace-cup  after  the  cheese  was  ended." 
But  pleasant  as  the  visit  was,  there  was  one  great  dis- 
appointment in  it,  from  his  having  made  a  previous 
engagement  for  one  of  the  nights  when  "  Dr.  Pusey 
invited  me  to  attend  a  theological  meeting  at  his  house, 
and  hear  Mr.  Newman."  After  recording  which  he 
writes  in  his  Journal :  "  And  thus,  I  take  it,  ends  this 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  65 

visit  to  Oxford — dear,  delightful,  theological,  polemical, 
well-fed  Oxford.  Esfo  perpefua!"  (He  has  quite  re- 
covered from  the  disgust  occasioned  at  his  visit  of  last 
year  by  his  reception  at  the  Bodleian.) 

Before  we  pass  away  from  the  year  1837,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  he  gained  a  medal  in  that  year  for  a  song 
at  the  Melodists'  Club,  which  was  presented  to  him  at 
a  dinner  given  by  the  Club  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern 
(Aug.  13).  More  than  two  years  afterwards,  he  seems 
to  have  received  ^15  15*.  from  the  publication  and 
sale  of  this  song,  which,  he  says,  was  "  the  first  money 
I  ever  earned  in  Literature."  The  verses,  while  they 
cannot  be  characterized  as  more  than  pretty,  show  the 
versatility  of  his  powers,  and  the  variety  of  his  pursuits. 
They  breathe  his  usual  sensibility,  and  are  probably  an 
echo  of  his  sorrows  of  the  preceding  year,  when  little 
Kitty  had  been  removed  from  the  family  circle. 

Here  are  some  of  them: — 

"  The  friends,  whom  in  Life's  early  morning  we  cherish, 

Are  fled  ere  the  noon  of  existence  is  o'er ; 
And  when  night  gathers  darkest  around  us,  we  perish 
"\\  ith  few  hearts  to  love  us,  and  none  to  deplore. 

"  Ah  !    who — when  he  sees  by  some  rare  chance  united 

Around  him  the  faces  and  forms  he  loves  best, 
Each    with   hopes   undeceived,   young  affections    un- 

blighted. 
And  joy  the  sole  inmate  of  every  pure  breast  — 

">•  Ah  !  who  has  not  wished  that  just  then  a  deep  slumber 

On  him  and  his  cherished  companions  might  fall, — 

That  the  summons,  which  else  would  steal  one  from 

their  number, 
Miirlit  come  like  an  Angel  of  peace  to  them  all!  " 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1838  occurred  the  burning  A.D.  1838. 
of  the  Royal  Exchange,  which  was  the  occasion  of  re-   '£L  2* 
VOL.  i.  F 


66  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

viving   his  project    of  publishing    on    the    subject   of 
Gresham's  Life  and  Times,  as  he  tells  us  in  his  Preface. 

"  Two  years  had  elapsed,  when  the  destruction  of  the 
Royal  Exchange  by  fire  in  the  beginning  of  1838  seems 
to  have  suggested  the  idea  that  a  more  auspicious 
moment  had  arrived  for  the  appearance  of  the  life  of  its 
founder ;  and  inquiries  were  made  for  the  neglected  MS." 
(He  had  "  laid  it  aside,"  under  the  impression  that,  with 
the  large  mass  of  materials  at  command,  justice  could 
not  be  done  to  the  subject  in  a  small  compass.)  "  But 
before  it  left  his  hands  the  writer  determined  to  apply 
for  permission  to  inspect  the  correspondence  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  which  he  was  told  existed  in  the 
State  Paper  Office ;  and  the  necessary  facilities  having 
been  very  obligingly  granted  him  by  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell ...  to  the  State  Paper  Office  he  repaired.  Great 
indeed  was  his  surprise  and  satisfaction  at  discovering 
such  a  mass  of  historic  evidence  as  was  then  first  dis- 
closed to  him.  Hundreds  of  letters  now  appeared  in 
place  of  the  scanty  documents  which  he  had  hitherto 
known  of; — and  these  volumes  are  the  result." 

The  Gresham  family  being  of  Norfolk  extraction,  and 
deriving  its  name  from  a  small  village  in  Norfolk,  the 
free  school  of  Holt  in  Norfolk  having  been  the  manor- 
house  of  James  Gresham,  Sir  Thomas's  great-grandfather, 
and  Intwood  Hall,  about  three  miles  from  Norwich, 
having  been  his  country  seat,  inherited  from  his  father, 
it  was  obvious  for  young  Burgon  to  apply  to  his  father's 
friend,  Mr.  Dawson  Turner,  of  Great  Yarmouth,  for 
assistance  in  his  '  Life  of  Gresham,'  not  only  as  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  "  valuable  MS.  library,"  but  also  as  thoroughly 
versed  in  the  antiquities  of  the  eastern  counties.  This 
assistance  he  acknowledges  in  his  Preface,  pp.  xv,  xvi. 

Accordingly  '  Gres/tam '  was  resumed,  and,  as  was 
Burgon's  wont,  "whatsoever  his  hand  found  to  do,  he 
did  it  with  his  might."  On  the  day  of  the  Queen's 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  67 

Coronation  (Thursday,  May  28,  1838)  the  brief  entry  in 
his  Journal  is  as  follows  : — "  Coronation — Toin  and 
Helen "  (his  younger  brother  and  youngest  surviving 
sister)  "  went  to  see  it — I  did  '  Gresham '  all  day." 
On  Saturday,  July  27 : — "  Said  the  last  word  to  the 
last  sheet  of  T.  G.  !!!!";  and,  finally,  Aug.  26  (when 
he  is  in  the  midst  of  a  Scotch  tour  with  his  friend 
Patrick  Fraser  Tytler)  : — "  '  Gresham'  came  out." 

But  his  visit  to  Norfolk  in  1838  ought  not  to  be 
passed  over  without  some  detailed  notice  of  it,  because 
this  seems  to  have  been  the  commencement  of  an  inti- 
macy, which  he  prized  very  highly,  with  the  amiable 
and  estimable  family  of  the  late  Mr.  Dawson  Turner. 
The  ostensible  object  of  the  visit  was  that  he  might 
see  with  his  own  eyes  Holt  and  Intwood,  and  make  en- 
quiries on  the  spot  as  to  any  particulars  of  the  Gresham 
family,  which  might  have  been  handed  down  by  tradi- 
tion, and  still  linger  among  the  peasantry.  He  accom- 
plished this  before  he  left  the  county ;  but  it  is  clear 
from  his  Journal  that  his  acquaintance  with  the  Turner 
family  rather  diverted  him  for  a  time  from  his  avowed 
object,  by  setting  up  another  strong  current  of  interest 
in  his  mind,  and  exercising  upon  him  an  influence  not 
merely  intellectual,  but  sentimental.  Mr.  Dawson  Turner 
himself  was  just  such  a  character  as  would  naturally 
attract  Burgon.  He  was  highly  cultivated,  and  was 
strong  in  several  subjects,  particularly  in  antiquities. 
Papers  from  his  pen  appear  in  the  Transactions  of 
various  scientific  Societies ;  several  of  the  most  inter- 
esting monographs  to  be  found  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Norfolk  and  Norwich  Archaeological  Society  were 
contributed  by  him  ;  and  it  was  he  who  wrote  the  letter- 
press for  Cotman's  splendid  engravings  of  '  The  Antiqui- 
ties of  Normandy'  He  possessed  valuable  pictures  and 

P  2 


68  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

antiques,  and,  being  a  great  botanist,  had  got  together  a 
hortu*  ticcus,  which  was  one  of  the  completest  collections 
of  that  kind  in  the  country.  But  Burgon  himself  shall 
give  whathecalls  "apen  andinksketch"  of  him.  Thus 
he  writes  in  his  Journal  of  Monday,  16  April,  1838  :— 

"  D.  T.  is  an  extraordinary  man ;  he  combines  the 
banker  with  the  man  of  letters.  He  is  a  classic  and 
a  botanist,  a  picture-fancier,  an  autograph  collector,  and 
general  lover  of  rirfii,&  pleasant  companion,  a  kind  host, 
a  zealous  abettor  in  literary  enquiries"  (witness  his 
hospitality  to  young  Burgon,  when  bent  on  prosecuting 
his  researches  into  Gresham's  life),  "  the  very  tenderest 
of  husbands,  and  the  very  kindest  of  fathers.  But  the 
business  habit  usque  recurrit ;  he  tells  you  how  much 
this  and  that  cost  ;  what  he  has  been  offered,  and  what 
he  has  refused ;  what  he  would  and  what  he  would  not 
give  for  other  men's,  and  take  for  some  of  his  own  trea- 
sures ...  He  reminds  me  of  Scott"  (Sir  Walter),— 
"  is  so  fond  of  dogs." 

En  route  to  Great  Yarmouth,  and  again  in  returning 
to  London,  Burgon  stops  at  Norwich,  lionises  the  Ca- 
thedral, where  "Dean  Pellew  is  making  immense  im- 
provements, or  rather  restorations. ; — the  roof,  or  rather 
ceiling,  a  noble  coup  d'ceutt — few  tombs," — "  attends  the 
Cathedral  service  Apr.  15 "  (it  was  Easter  Day),  where 
"  a  lad  sang  the  Anthem,  But  tAou  didst  not  leave  His  soul 
in  hel^  like  an  angel, —  small  voice,  but  so  sweet — it  was 
splendid, — but  there  was  not  enough  chaunting,  and  he 
who  has  been  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge  misses  the 
Amen*,  which  were  done  in  prose,"  (Take  notice,  all 
manner  of  people  whom  it  may  concern,  that  such  is  the 
case  in  Norwich  Cathedral  no  longer) ;  sees  the  pictures 
in  St.  Andrew's  Hall,  and  the  Guild  Hall,  and  at  the 
latter  place  "  the  sword  Nelson  took  from  the  Spaniard 
at  the  battle  of  St.  Vincent."  On  Easter-Monday  he 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  69 

gets  to  the  Star  at  Yarmouth  by  9  A.  M.  "  A  few  doors 
distant  is  the  Bank,  and  over  the  Bank  lives  Dawson 
Turner  in  a  wonderfully  contrived  house,  where  there 
is  every  luxury,  every  convenience,  and  no  more  idea 
above  stairs  of  what  is  passing  below  than  there  is  in 
the  blue  empyrean  of  what  takes  place  in  this  nether 
sphere.  I  found  Mr.  Turner  admiring  a  newly  acquired 
Titian,  for  which  he  has  paid  ^Ji8o."  He  meets  at 
Mr.  Turner's  house  Bernard  Barton  the  Quaker  Poet5, 
and  a  propos  of  some  Cowperian  relics,  which  a  very  old 
woman  had  recently  been  showing  to  Barton,  and  also 
of  Cowper's  autograph  translation  of  the  '  Iliad ','  which 
his  host  possessed  and  exhibited  to  his  two  literary 
guests,  he  has  a  long  talk  about  Cowper,  and  about 
poets  and  poetry  in  general ;  "  we  discussed  the  Lakers 
and  the  Saltwater  worthies  ; — Barton  likes  both  Words- 
worth and  Pope,  and  is  therefore  all  right — but  Lamb 
seemed  his  favourite  food — he  wrote  his  name  in  my 
Album — seemed  a  cheerful,  grave,  and  (in  a  word)  good 
kind  of  little  fellow."  He  is  in  the  element  in  which  he 
luxuriates :  "  I  cannot  pretend  to  describe  Mr.  Turner's 
Library — such  an  immense  collection  of  Books,  illus- 
trated, and  in  a  thousand  ways  rendered  valuable — 
MSS. — drawings.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c." — As  to  the  hospi- 
tality of  his  reception  in  this  wonderful  house,  most 
congenial  to  him  as  being  the  repository  of  so  much 
Literature,  Art,  and  Antiquity,  he  writes  "  I  am  domi- 

5  Bernard    Barton   (b.    1 784,    d.  himself  to   literature ;  but  Charles 

1849),  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Lamb  dissuaded  him  from  doing  so  in 

Friends,  was  employed  in  a  bank  at  strong  and  incisive  terms  ;  "  Throw 

Woodbridge  in  Suffolk.     His  '  Me-  yourself  rather,   my  dear  Sir,  from 

trical  Effusions'  published  in  1812,  the  steep  Tarpeian   rock   slap-dash 

and  a  second  volume  of  poems  in  headlong    on    iron     spikes."       He 

1820  having   been   favourably   re-  received  a  pension  of  £100  a  year, 

ceived,  he  seems  to  have  thought  of  in  recognition  of  his  poetical  labours, 
abandoning  the  bank,  and  devoting 


7o  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

ciled  in  a  bedroom  fit  for  the  great  Cham  of  Tartary." 
It  is  clear,  however,  from  the  Journal  that  (as  already 
hinted)  the  chief  attraction  of  those  four  days  at  Yar- 
mouth (April  1 6,  17,  18,  19  of  the  year  1838)  was 
a  sentimental  one.  Such  topics  are  sacred  and  must  be 
passed  over  in  silence.  But  every  one  who  knows  how 
passionately  susceptible  to  affection  of  all  kinds  his 
nature  was,  can  imagine  what  would  be  the  nature  of 
his  self-communings  under  such  circumstances.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  colder  and  older  men  than  John  William 
Burgon  (he  was  then  only  twenty-five)  have  found  the  days 
when  love  first  lays  hold  of  their  whole  being,  and  they 
are  made  to  feel  the  force  of  Coleridge's  description  of  it, 
"All  thoughts,  all  passions,  all  delights, 

Whatever  stirs  this  mortal  frame, 

All  are  but  ministers  of  Love, 

And  feed  his  sacred  flame," 

to  be  the  golden  days  of  this  plodding,  care-beset 
earthly  life, — days  of  continuous  delight,  if  only  the 
hope  of  ultimate  union  with  the  object  upon  which  the 
affections  are  set,  however  remote,  is  not  entirely  pre- 
cluded. To  him,  than  whom  nobody  ever  knew  better 
how  to  put  an  heroic  restraint  upon  himself  in  the 
interests  of  the  persons  he  loved,  it  seemed  that,  depen- 
dent as  some  of  the  members  of  his  family  were  upon 
him,  to  have  offered  marriage  to  any  one  would  have 
been  wrong,  as  gratifying  his  own  inclinations  at  the  ex- 
pense of  those  who  had  a  prior  claim  upon  him.  Those 
who  knew  him  but  superficially  would  not  have  believed 
it, — he  was  at  all  times  so  gay  and  light-hearted  ;  but  he 
was  ever  austere  to  himself,  and  almost  an  ascetic  in  his 
personal  habits.  Hence  the  strong  attraction  to  the  other 
sex,  which  in  the  majority  of  men  seeks  and  finds  its  grati- 
fication in  marriage,  and  soon  sobers  down  in  a  single 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  71 

tranquil  channel,  in  him  fastened  more  or  less  to  the  end 
of  his  life  on  every  agreeable  woman  whom  he  came  across, 
and  assumed  occasionally,  though  always  in  transparent 
guilelessness  and  simplicity,  an  almost  amatory  expression. 

In  order  that  the  continuity  of  our  narrative  may 
not  be  broken,  portions  of  his  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Turner  will  be  given  at  the  end  of  this  Chapter, 
from  which  it  will  appear  that  at  that  critical  period 
of  his  life  when  his  father's  mercantile  failure  left 
Burgon  free  to  indulge  what  had  always  been  the 
fondest  wish  of  his  heart,  and  to  prepare  himself  for 
Holy  Orders  in  the  regular  way  by  going  through 
the  curriculum  of  Oxford,  and  taking  his  degree, 
Mr.  Turner,  who  was  generous  and  munificent  in  pro- 
portion to  his  means,  which  at  that  time  were  ample, 
if  not  excessively  large,  offered  the  assistance  of  his 
purse  towards  the  expenses  of  his  academical  career, 
which,  after  some  delicate  and  honourable  demur  on  the 
part  of  Burgon,  was  gratefully  accepted.  Mr.  Turner 
probably  thought  (and  who  will  not  be  found  to  agree 
with  him '?)  that  a  little  help  given  at  the  outset  of 
his  career  to  one  who  bade  fair  to  become  (as  he  did 
eventually  become)  a  great  Doctor  of  the  Church,  and 
a  power  in  the  religious  life  of  the  country,  could  not  by 
possibility  be  so  well  bestowed  elsewhere,  or  bring  in  a 
more  really  remunerative  and  satisfactory  return. 

Minor  incidents  of  this  or  the  ensuing  year,  which 
need  only  be  cursorily  adverted  to,  are  his  contributions 
to  the  '  Neic  General  Biographical  Dictionary ','  which  his 
brother-in-law  (Rev.  Henry  John  Rose 6)  was  at  that 
time  editing,  of  the  Articles  on  Bertrand  Andrieu 
[1761-1822],  the  celebrated  French  engraver  of  medals; 

6  Mr.  Rose  was  married  to  his  eldest  sister,  Sarah  Caroline,  on  May  24, 
of  this  year  (1838). 


72  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

on  Dr.  Thomas  Archer  [1553-1630],  a  Fellow  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  who  was  in  his  day  Hector  of 
Houghton  Conquest,  and  a  great  benefactor  to  that 
Parish;  and  on  Dr.  William  Aubrey  [1529-1 595]'  a 
civilian,  who  was  appointed  one  of  the  delegates  for  the 
trial  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  whose  efforts  on  the 
Queen's  behalf  in  that  capacity  were  afterwards  grate- 
fully remembered  by  James  I. — This  Dictionary,  which 
still  maintains  its  reputation  as  an  excellent  book  of 
reference,  was  projected  and  partly  arranged  by  the 
Reverend  Hugh  James  Rose ;  and  the  earlier  portion  of 
it  was  edited  by  the  Rev.  Henry  John  Rose,  his  brother, 
who,  however,  finding  the  editorship  too  onerous  for 
him,  as  living  out  of  London,  and  as  having  upon  his 
hands  also  the  '  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitan*!,'  was  obliged 
to  resign  it.  Burgon  described  his  delight  at  the  relief 
experienced  by  his  brother-in-law  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Dawson  Turner,  dated  April  2,  1840. 

.  1839.  The  year  1839  was  marked  by  a  visit  to  Chequers  in 
Buckinghamshire,  where  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  who 
had  confirmed  him,  was  then  residing  [See  for  an  ac- 
count of  this  beautiful  place  '  The  Life  and  Times  of 
Gregham,'  vol.  ii.  p.  392,  et  sequent^  and  where,  after 
his  usual  whimsical  fashion,  "  I  put  on  Cromwell's 
clothes7," — and  also  by  the  Highland  tour  in  company 

7  Chequers  had  once  belonged  to  name  of  Russell,  had  married  Bishop 

Richard   Cromwell,  who  succeeded  Murray's    sister;     and    hence    the 

his  father  as  Lord  Protector.     Its  Bishop  was  much  at  Chequers.     He 

connexion  with  Gresham  was  that  had  probably  heard  that  J.  W.  B.,  as 

Lady  Mary  Grey,  who  was  after-  engaged  in  writing  about  the  times 

wards  given  in  charge  to  him,  had  of  Gresham,   would  be  glad  of  an 

previously  been  in  the  custody  of  opportunity  of  inspecting  the  place 

Mr.  William  Hawtrey  the  then  pro-  of  Lady  Mary  Grey's  captivity,  and 

prietor  of  Chequers.  —  Sir  Robert  goodnaturedly  asked  him  to  accom- 

Frankland,  the  owner  of  the  place  pany  him    thither,— an    invitation 

in  1839,  who  afterwards  took  the  which  was  thankfully  accepted. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  73 

with  his  friend  Tytler,  in  the  course  of  which  he  was 
apprised  of  the  appearance  of  the  work,  on  which  he  had 
bestowed  so  much  time  and  pains,  —  '  The  Life  and  Times 
of  Sir  Thomas  Gretham*  On  Saturday  the  loth  of  August 
he  leaves  the  Tower  stairs  with  Tytler  in  "  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  steamer,"  bound  for  Aberdeen,  —  "passed 
Yarmouth  at  about  2.30  A.M.  on  Sunday  the  nth," 
(which  probably  set  his  pulses  fluttering),  and  encoun- 
ters a  ground 


"  By  a  singular  kind  of  sympathy  "  (Burgon  was 
full  of  sympathy,  and  was  always  both  detecting  and 
exhibiting  it  :  but  was  it  so  very  ':  singular"  under  the 
circumstances  ?)  "  Tytler  and  I  both  lay  in  bed  all  day 
without  ever  thinking  of  moving.  It  was  very  unlike  a 
Sunday  —  but  what  was  to  be  done  1  It  was  impossible 
to  stand  upright,  and  on  deck  there  was  nothing  to  be 
seen,  if  one  could  have  mustered  up  pluck  to  dress  one- 
self. The  wind  was  contrary,  the  sea  rough,  and  all  the 
way  to  Aberdeen  both  continued  so  —  many  conjectures 
as  to  when  we  were  to  get  to  our  journey  s  end  —  very 
disgusting  to  a  man  lying  retching  in  his  berth,  unable 
to  read  and  do  any  thing  except  doze,  and  wish  his  crib 
were  two  inches  longer  '  (those  who  were  familiar  with 
his  personal  appearance  will  quite  understand  and 
appreciate  the  wish). 

..."  Tuesday,  13.  I  was  awoke  at  3  in  the  morning 
by  a  cackling  in  the  cabin.  We  were  within  sight  of  the 
Aberdeen  light.  I  dressed  immediately  and  got  on  deck 
—  it  was  very  refreshing  '  to  scent  the  morning  air  ' 
after  so  much  confinement  and  closeness.  It  was  of 
course  a  greyish  coldish  morning  —  sea  quiet,  but  wind  as 
little  contrary,  and  we  went  pitching  forward  slowly,  as 
if  we  were  walking  to  Aberdeen.  The  shore  looked  thus  " 
(a  slight  pencil  sketch)  —  "  low,  grey,  cliffy  shore  about  a 
mile  or  so  off  —  when  we  came  nearer  the  light,  which 
was  a  double  light,  it  looked  thus"  (another  pencil 
sketch)  —  "  ugly  enough.  ...  A  few  boats  shot  by,  and 
others  were  sallying  forth,  and  upon  the  hills  a  few 


74  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURQON. 

houses  were  visible— the  story  was  told  completely— a 
Scotch  fishing  village  on  a  barren  coast  .  .  .  such  specu- 
lations amused  me  till  we  rounded  the  corner,  and  saw 
(for  it  was  now  5  o'clock  nearly)  the  town  of  Aberdeen 
—looked  pretty— and  quiet— every  thing  was  delightful 
in  fact,  and  any  thing  would  have  seemed  lovely  after 
the  steam-boat." 

So  begins  the  Journal,  with  the  aid  of  which  was  com- 
piled the  sprightly  and  beautiful  account  of  his  Highland 
tour,  which  he  himself  gives  in  his  'Memoir  of  Patrick 
Frasser  Tytler'  [pp.  269-289,  2nd  ed.  London:  1859], 
to  which  account  the  reader  is  here  referred.  The 
special  Journal  book  of  the  tour  is  illustrated  through- 
out by  rapid  but  expressive  pencil  sketches  of  the 
objects  he  describes, — (Marischal  College  and  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Aberdeen;  Coxton  Tower,  "a  mere  sentry-box 
of  a  house,"  yet  the  residence  of  knights  "  of  the  Innes 
family " ;  the  "  very  extraordinary  lime-tree "  in  the 
garden  of  Gordon  Castle ;  the  Castle  itself ;  the  bridge 
in  Mr.  Steuart's  grounds  at  Auchlunkart ;  the  summit  of 
Ben  Muick  Dhui ;  Ben  Nevis  as  he  first  saw  it ;  the  glen 
of  Rothiemurchus  ;  Patrick  Fraser  Tytler's  portrait,  and 
that  of  his  brother ;  a  dog  on  board  the  steamer  off  Skye ; 
a  barefooted  girl  in  a  shop  at  Keith,  &c.,  &c.), — and 
it  adds  several  particulars  to  those  which  have  already 
been  given  to  the  world  in  the  Memoir  of  Tytler.  Thus 
the  Memoir  introduces  us  to  the  "  two  gentlemen 
named  Stewart,  residing  in  the  romantic  Isle  of  Ai- 
gais,"  and  styled  "The  Princes,"  as  being  "supposed 
descendants  of  Prince  Charles  Edward."  In  the  Jour- 
nal is  an  account  of  these  gentlemen's  dining  at 
Moniack  (James  Baillie  Fraser's  place),  a  day  or  two 
after  the  Fraser  family  had  taken  Burgon  to  visit 
"the  Princes." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  75 

"  P.  F.  T.  came  in  and  told  me  that  the  Princes  were 
arrived.  Went  in  to  seal  my  letter  and  found  them,  one 
on  either  side  of  old  Mrs.  Fraser.  Strange  fellows — very 
courteous — but  so  odd. 

"  Dressed  and  so  to  dinner — sate  between  Sir  John 
MacNeill  and  Mrs.  Wedderburn.  Next  her  was  Jan  (the 
unmarried  '  Prince  '),  and  opposite  me  Charles.  Jan  is 
like  Charles  I — extremely — wears  a  wig,  and  has  much 
fallen  off,  they  say,  of  late  years — Charles  is  the  hand- 
somer man,  but  I  (loot,  as  the  Scotch  say,  how  either  would 
look  in  a  plain  suit  of  black.  Take  their  pedigree" 
(meaning,  their  alleged  pedigree  :  Charles  Edward,  who 
in  1 766  took  the  title  of  Count  d' Albany,  and  laid  aside 
that  of  Prince  of  Wales,  had  no  children,  and  his  title  to 
the  English  Crown  passed  at  his  death  in  1788  to  his 
brother,  Cardinal  Henry  Stuart,  who  died  in  1 807,  the 
last  heir  male  of  the  line  of  Stuart) : 

"  The  Prince  =p  Duchess  of  Albany 


Jan                                          Beresford-Charles 
(a?/,  circa  55)                                       (cet.  circa  48) 

1 
a  son 
(art.  14) 

a  girl 
(vet.  16) 

1 
a  girl 
qu*.  12? 

1 

a  <firl 
qu*.  9  ? 

"  After  dinner  I  got  them  to  talk  of  the  second  sight. 
Sir  John  McN.  was  amusing.  He  told  us  a  curious 
story  of  a  servant  of  his  family  having  to  swim  across 
a  loch  near  the  estate,  a  very  expert  swimmer ;  but  the 
current  was  strong,  and  he  was  drowned.  The  youth's 
death  was  announced  before  it  was  known  that  he  had 
perished  (as  it  is  Jirmly  believed  and  stated)  by  a  girl  he 
loved.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  nothing  can  be  more  cer- 
tain than  that  she  described  the  part  of  the  lake  where 
his  body  would  be  found,  which  was  not  attended  to  on 
account  of  its  improbability  ; — viz.  it  was  five  miles  from 
the  point  he  must  have  started,  and  on  the  same  side 
of  the  loch.  The  men  who  had  searched  for  the  body 
(for  the  Highlanders  always  consider  it  to  be  a  matter  of 


76  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

great  importance  to  recover  a  corpse  under  such  circum- 
stances) in  despair  did  look  at  last  in  the  place  indicated, 
and  there  sure  enough  they  found  the  object  of  their 
search.  I  never  heard  a  more  extraordinary  and  authen- 
ticated story  of  second  sight.  The  party  explained  to  me 
the  nature  of  the  faculty;  it  is  not  voluntary,  but  is 
forced  upon  a  person,  and  he  can  no  more  resist  the 
impression  so  conveyed  than  voluntarily  receive  it. 

Fraser  repeated  his  two  admirable  stories  of  the  second 
sight,  particularly  the  one  which  Corrie's  father  (in  1810) 
told  him  as  having  occurred  to  himself,  viz. :  Corrie 
praised  to  his  steward  (one  Donald)  a  girl  reaping. 
'  Ah !  she  may  reap  well  now,  but  it  is  the  last  time 
she'll  ever  reap.'  The  old  man  was  pressed.  He  said 
that  he  saw  the  winding-sheet  up  to  her  neck,  and  that 
she  would  not  live  a  week.  Corrie  asked  for  a  token. 
Donald  told  him  who  her  four  bearers  would  be.  She 
died  in  less  than  a  week.  Corrie  offered  to  be  a  coffin 
bearer.  The  honour  was  great,  and  the  proposal  of 
course  acceded  to.  At  the  instant  the  procession  should 
have  started,  C.  saw  a  favourite  terrier  of  his  getting  into 
a  quarrel  with  a  large  strange  dog :  he  stepped  forward 
to  part  them,  and  the  man,  to  whom  the  4th  corner  of 
the  coffin  was  foretold,  actually  filled  Corrie's  place." 

But  tire  brightest  of  seasons  must  come  to  an  end,  and 
the  best  of  friends  must  part.  Here  is  the  account  of 
his  parting  from  Tytler  at  Moniack,  characteristically 
effusive,  and  exhibiting  the  deep  affectionateness  of  both 
men : — 

"  Breakfasted,  and  then  the  carriage  was  ordered  for 
me.  I  packed  in  my  room,  and  then  had  five  minutes' 
parting  chat  with  P.  F.  T.  .  .  .  We  have  been  wonderfully 
drawn  together  all  along  by  a  strange  and  strong  sym- 
pathy, which  I  cannot  quite  explain  "  (the  grounds  of  this 
sympathy  have  been  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  part  of 
the  Chapter) ;  "  but  I  love  him,  and  he  loves  me — that  is  the 
plain  history  of  the  case.  We  had  a  most  affectionate 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  77 

parting — thanks  on  my  side,  put  away  on  his, — and 
acknowledgments  of  condescension  which  he  would  not 
allow.  He  told  me  that  I  was  almost  the  only  friend  he 
had  in  London — reminded  me  that  in  the  course  of  nature 
I  must  survive  him,  and  bade  me  with  tears  befriend  his 
children.  Then  he  /v'.vW  me  on  both  cheeks — once  more 
shook  me  by  the  hand — we  both  agreed  to  be  cheerful, 
and  not  recur  to  these  painful  themes,  and  so,  half  in 
tears,  and  half  in  smiles,  we  parted." 

Then  comes  a  description  of  the  parting  from  the 
rest  of  the  Moniack  family  and  their  guests  : — 

"  I  like  them  all.  and  from  the  very  first  liked  them — 
loving  Mrs.  W. — liking  Lady  M. — and  admiring  and 
feeling  myself  strongly  drawn  towards  Sir  John — but 
I  was  nervous — spoke  ill — and  I  am  not  sure  that  one 
of  them  understood  me."  (Who  has  not  felt  the  same, 
when  overwhelmed  with  kindness  and  hospitality  by 
strangers,  and  having  on  a  sudden  to  make  some  acknow- 
ledgment ?)  "  Two  or  three  days  more  might  have  turned 
the  scale." 

He  leaves  Moniack  for  Inverness  "  in  a  pelting  rain," 
and  having  deposited  his  luggage  at  the  Royal  Hotel, 
immediately  takes  a  chaise  to  Antfield  (William  Fraser 
Tytler's  cottage),  where  he  had  been  hospitably  enter- 
tained in  the  previous  month.  "Reached  Antfield  at 
|  to  2 — Dear  little  cottage !  I  know  not  how  or  why ; 
but  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  had  left  my  heart  there,  and 
was  going  to  find  it.  All  were  glad  to  see  me ;  but  I 
think 's  quiet  eyes  said  most,  and 's  soft,  beau- 
tiful ones."  (The  fact  is  he  had  more  or  less  lost  his 
heart  at  Antfield,  as  he  was  always  losing  it  everywhere, 
even  to  the  end  of  his  life  ;  he  could  not  resist  the  attrac- 
tion of  agreeable  women.)  "  The  drawings  I  brought, — 
I  allude  to  my  two  copies  of  the  portrait  of  their  departed 
sister — threw  a  gloom  over  the  day,  which  the  weather 


78  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

added  to ;  and  the  holy  hours  it  would  have  been  im- 
proper to  profane  by  reading,"  (it  was  Sunday ;  his 
meaning  is  that,  had  it  been  a  week-day,  he  would  have 
felt  at  liberty  to  interest  and  amuse  himself  with  the 
silent  companions  contained  in  the  library  of  Antfield 
Cottage  ;  he  was  always  very  conscientious  as  to  Sunday 
pursuits,  and  somewhat  of  a  Sabbatarian).  At  2  in  the 
morning  of  Monday  (Sept.  16)  he  leaves  Inverness  by 
the  mail  for  Edinburgh,  and  recognises  in  his  fellow 
travellers  a  lady  and  gentleman  whom  he  had  already 
fallen  in  with  while  he  was  staying  at  Moniack,  and  who 
tell  him  about  the  country  they  pass  through.  A  "  gleam 
of  sunlight"  breaks  forth  upon  Craig  Ellachie,  as  they 
come  near  it,  which  "  I  shall  never  forget."  "  Near  the 
Aviemore  Inn  is  Craig  Ellachie.  '  Stand  fast,  Craig 
Ellachie!'  is  the  war-cry  of  the  Grants.  How  spirit- 
stirring  is  the  word,  conjuring  up  that  lovely  scene,  and 
inspiring  high  resolve  not  to  budge  before  the  foe,  but  to 
stand  as  feust  as  that  everlasting  rock! ! !  .  .  .  Oh  !  thoughts 
like  this  rushed  upon  me  at  every  step."  They  pass 
Birnam  Wood,  Blair  Athol,  and  Killiecrankie  (the  two  last 
"  charmed  me  less  than  50  things  I  had  already  seen  "), 
and  had  "a  peep  at  Lochleven  Castle" — and  reach 
Edinburgh  after  crossing  the  Firth  in  an  open  boat. 
In  Edinburgh  he  is  introduced  to  Thompson  the  Scotch 
artist,  some  of  whose  pictures  were  then  fetching  from 
j^2oo  to  ^300. 

"  Thompson  we  found  full  of  his  craft.  ...  I  never  saw 
a  greater  enthusiast.  He  painted  before  me  at  Mr. 
Wright's  request,  and  gave  me  a  brush.  His  system 
of  sketching  in  the  fields  is  extraordinary — splendid 
effect,  but  produced  so  strangely  ...  he  told  me  that  he 
began  by  pouring  a  bottle  of  boiling  water  over  his 
colour  box  to  clean  the  colours!  His  brushes  are  of 
bristle." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  79 

During  the  days  he  spent  at  Edinburgh,  he  visited 
most  of  the  places  indicated  to  him  in  the  "paper  of 
instructions,"  which  Tytler  had  given  him,  and  dined 
with  Mr.  Hog  at  Newliston:  "At  dessert  I  was  par- 
ticularly delighted  with  the  crows  which  came  to  the 
wood  in  millions,  quite  darkening  the  air — I  never  saw  a 
more  curious  sight,  or  heard  a  more  confused  sound — 
detachment  after  detachment  came  wheeling  in,  till 
night  put  an  end  to  the  gathering,  or  rather  made 
it  invisible." 

On  Monday,  Sept.  23,  after  an  absence  of  just  six  weeks 
and  two  days,  he  returned  to  London,  evidently  much 
refreshed  by  the  change  of  scene  and  all  the  genial 
hospitality  he  had  met  with  amongst  the  Scottish  gentry. 
The  concluding  paragraph  of  the  Chapter  in  his  Memoir 
of  Tytler,  in  which  he  records  this  tour,  may  be  given 
as  exhibiting  not  only  the  poetry  and  sentiment  which 
were  in  him,  but  his  ecclesiastical  tendencies  when  he 
was  still  a  layman,  and  never  expected  to  be  anything 
else.  He  is  visiting  Abbotsford,  and  has  with  him  "  a 
truly  intelligent  fellow  "  who  "  had  the  border  traditions 
at  his  fingers'  ends/'  and  who  had  acted  as  cicerone  to 
him : — 

"  We  both  sat  down  at  last  on  a  hill-side, — I  to  draw  -. 
Oliver,  with  two  deer-hounds  at  his  feet,  to  read  me  a 
border-ballad.  The  name  of  the  spot  I  have  forgotten : 
but  the  scene  is  printed  deep  into  my  memory.  The 
yellow  moon,  round  as  a  shield,  rose  grandly  above  the 
Cheviots ;  and  the  glooming  stole  over  the  landscape 
slowly,  silently,  beautifully.  One  by  one  the  peaks  of 
grey  and  purple  faded  from  my  sight.  I  enquired  the 
name  of  some  silvery  hills  in  the  far  distance ;  and 
learned  that  they  were  '  in  Northumberland!  There  was 
magic  in  the  word.  I  had  been  attending  the  kirk  for 
six  weeks,  and  devoutly  thirsted  to  hear  the  'Te  Deum' 


go  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

again.  'Among  those  hills,'  I  secretly  said  to  myself, 
'  it  must  be  repeated  every  Sunday ! '  .  .  .  John  Oliver 
could  no  longer  see  to  read,  nor  I  to  draw.  It  was 
growing  quite  late,  when,  with  a  swelling  heart,  I 
wrote  in  the  corner  of  my  sketch-book, — Good-night  to 
Scotland!"  [Memoir  of  P.  F.  Tytler,  p.  289.] 

Nothing  more  need  be  recorded  of  the  year  1839, 
except  that  the  Counting-House  and  its  drudgery  are 
evidently  becoming  increasingly  distasteful  to  him. 
"  Tuesday,  Oct.  22.  Passed  a  disgusting  day,  bothering 

with   's    matters — brought   up    the    ledger  in   the 

evening,  and  went  to  bed  quite  sick."  "  Oct.  23. 
Another  disgusting  day!  How  weary  I  am  of  this 
mode  of  life ! "  His  longing  for  Oxford  and  the  Ministry 
is  gaining  a  greater  hold  upon  him.  "Nov.  i,  1839. 
Had  a  long  talk  with  my  father  to-night  relative  to  the 
Church."  "  Nov.  29.  Before  going  to  bed  sent  Tytler 
my  Review  of  his  book  "  (the  History  of  Scotland)  "  for 
'  The  Times  '—City  all  day— Talked  to  dear— and —  "  (two 
of  his  sisters)  "  about  my  Oxon.  wishes." 

•  l84°-       On  the  first  page  of  the  Journal  for  1840  stands  this 
Memorandum : — 

"  It  is  impossible  to  enter  upon  a  new  year  without 
a  pang  of  regret  for  the  past,  and  a  sentiment  of  un- 
easiness and  anxiety  "  (caused  probably  by  symptoms  of 
his  father's  affairs  being  in  an  unsound  state)  "  respect- 
ing the  future.  God  grant  that  the  year  which  we  have 
this  day  commenced  may  be  unmarked  by  calamity. 
Rather  will  I  hope  that  ere  1841  appears,  some  bright 
star — for  which  I  have  long  been  watching — will  rise 
above  the  gloom  which  hangs  over  the  horizon  of  the 
future.  J.  W.B.  Jan.  i,  1840." 

The  "  calamity,"  however,  was  staved  off,  and  the  year 
1840  appears  from  the  corresponding  memorandum  on 
Jan.  i,  1841,  to  have  been  a  comfortable  one:  "The 
past  year  has  brought  with  it  many  blessings.  May 


THE  EARLY  LIFE. 


the  year  on  which  we  have  this  day  entered  leave  at 
least  as  sweet  a  fragrance  behind  it !  Laus  Deo !  Jan. 
i,  1841." 

The  most  noticeable  incident  of  his  private  history  in 
the  year  1 840  is  what  he  calls  his  "  summer  ramble  "  in 
Yorkshire,  taken  in  prosecution  of  his  researches  into  the 
pedigree  of  his  family,  which  he  describes  in  the  follow- 
ing lively  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Dawson  Turner.  He 
had  been  six  years  previously  at  York  8  (in  the  September 
of  1 8  34),  as  he  tells  Mr.  Turner ;  and  it  would  seem  as  if 
the  chief  cause  which  took  him  there  on  the  earlier 
occasion  was  the  same  as  that  which  moved  him  on 


8  From  a  most  amusing  letter 
dated  Sept.  1 8,  1834,  written  to 
one  of  his  sisters  from  New  Malton 
in  Yorkshire,  it  would  seem  that 
the  Minster,  which  he  praises  so 
highly  to  Mr.  Turner,  scarcely 
attracted  his  regard  at  all  on  the 
occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  York, 
all  he  says  about  it  being,  "  On 
Sunday  I  went  to  the  Minster  as 
a  matter  of  course."  The  chief 
feature  of  the  letter  is  the  account 
of  his  trip  from  York  to  Scarborough, 
where  he  gets  into  a  difficulty  by 
strolling  too  far  along  the  shore, 
and  is  precluded  by  nightfall  from 
crawling  back  again  the  way  he 
had  come,  ("  a  slimy  assortment  of 
rocks,"  slippery  with  ooze  and  sea- 
weed), and  obliged  to  climb  the 
clitl',  which  was  "  very  high,  very 
steep,  very  crumbly,  and  very  full 
of  crevices  "  ;  where  also  he  "  buys 
a  bladder,  and  tries  to  swim,  but  no 
go — sunk  "  ;  and  where  finally  he 
kills  with  a  stone  a  wounded  curlew, 
which  "  went  squeaking  along  the 
shore"  ("  I  put  it  out  of  its  •/</>•  cy  : 
VOL.  I. 


so  don't  begin  the  Lamentations  of 
Jeremiah  over  the  'poor  thing  '  "), 
and  afterwards  laid  it  out,  and 
measured  it.  and  drew  it.  The 
following  about  his  physique  is 
amusing :  <4  You  can't  think  how 
much  disagreeable  notice  I  attract 
from  my  immense  altitude.  At 
Lincoln  I  heard  the  people  saying, 
'There  he  comes,'  as  often  as  I 
clambered  up  or  ambled  down  the 
interminable  hill  on  which  their 
Cathedral  stands  ....  This  very 
evening  I  heard  a  farmer's  wife  call 
her  husband  as  I  passed,  and  say 
the  moment  I  was  gone,  '  Gad,  he's 
a  tall  lad,  an't  un  ? '  Is  it  not 
monstrous?  These  runty  little 
thick-set  Yorkshiremen  seem  to 
consider  me  as  a  wild  beast  escaped 
from  some  show,  and  I  tremble  lest 
some  zealous  being  or  other  should 
take  upon  himself  to 

'put  me  in  the  parish 
Stocks  for  a  vagrant.'" 
The  letter  concludes,  "  Your  loving, 
cramped,  stiff  and  sleepy  Brother, 
JOHN  W.  BCBGOJJ." 


G 


82  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

the  latter  one;  for  we  find  him  on  his  former  visit 
spending  one  whole  day,  and  two  halves  of  days,  "at 
the  Prerogative  Office."  He  was  wonderfully  persistent 
in  all  that  he  put  his  hand  to.  The  letter,  though  in- 
teresting throughout,  is  of  such  dimensions  that  space 
forbids  the  presentation  of  it  in  its  entirety  to  the  reader. 
And  here  it  may  be  observed  that  for  the  most  part 
the  letters  of  his  early  life  are  of  unusual  length,  and  folded 
in  a  form  which  has  become  since  the  introduction  of  the 
Penny  Postage  altogether  obsolete.  Almost  always  they 
are  written  on  the  old-fashioned  letter  paper,  the  form  of 
which  was  quarto,  and  the  first  sheet  is  twice  folded  long 
ways,  before  the  final  folding  of  the  paper  into  the  letter 
form,  and  the  writing  of  the  address  on  the  outside  of 
the  second  sheet.  Not  unfrequently,  in  the  case  of  cor- 
respondence with  intimate  friends,  his  letter  occupies 
two  whole  sheets  and  a  half  of  this  paper,  and  the 
address  is  on  the  back  of  the  half-sheet,  which  is  made 
to  act  as  an  envelope,  the  writer  taking  care,  before  he 
begins  the  half-sheet,  to  mark  ofi'  a  little  space  for  the 
seal  or  wafer,  to  be  kept  clear  of  writing.  We  shall 
never  see  such  letters  again  as  these  of  a  former  genera- 
tion. We  shall  never  see  letters  as  long,  nor,  it  may  be 
added,  letters  as  much  worth  reading.  Rowland  Hill's 
penny  postage  has  knocked  letters,  considered  as  a  piece 
of  literature,  on  the  head  ;  although  it  is  true,  no  doubt, 
that  whenever  there  is  a  strong  individuality  in  the  letter 
writer,  it  is  sure  to  come  out,  even  if  he  writes  only 
a  dozen  lines.  The  opening  paragraph  of  the  present 
letter,  as  also  his  reflexions  about  Silkstone,  have  been 
given  at  an  earlier  period  of  this  Chapter,  pp.  i,  2,  3. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  brother. 

"  Brunswick  Square,  December  2,  1 840. 
"  My  dear  Sir,—  .  .  .  Without  troubling  you  with  the 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  83 

reasons  w//y,  Lichfield  was  the  first  place  we  visited.  I 
cannot  say  we  travelled  there,  for  we  went  by  steam — 
there  are  no  coaches  thither — nor  I  believe  anywhere 
else  except  to  Yarmouth — so  we  may  be  said  to  have 
/•//.v/W  from  place  to  place,  wherever  we  had  occasion  to 
go — except  when  we  walked,  and  then  we  seemed  to 
crawl.  With  Lichtield  we  were  of  course  delighted.  It 
is  clean  and  quiet,  and  the  little  Ecclesiastical  aristocracy 
which  encircles  the  Cathedral  afforded  us  much  entertain- 
ment. Then  there  are  the  literary  associations — Johnson, 
Miss  Seward,  Darwin,  Day  (who  wrote  Sandford  and 
Merton)  and  many,  many  more  of  lesser  celebrity.  We 
had  the  good  fortune,  though  we  arrived  there  friendless, 
in  an  odd  kind  of  way,  which  there  is  no  accounting 
for,  to  experience  a  world  of  kindness  from  complete 
strangers  ;  of  which  an  example  may  suffice.  We  were 
walking  after  Church  in  the  fields,  wondering  where 
Johnson's  willow  stood.  A  leisurely  looking  old  buffer 
with  drab  unmentionables  happening  to  come  by,  I 
asked  him  if  he  could  show  us  the  place.  He  seemed 
quite  pleased  at  being  asked  such  a  question,  marched 
us  up  to  the  spot  immediately,  informed  us  that  he  had 
lived  150 — no,  50 — years  in  Lichfield — and  knew  every- 
thing and  everybody.  Here  we  bowed,  and,  as  Robinson 
Crusoe  expresses  it,  '  made  as  though '  we  did  not  want 
to  trouble  him  any  further ;  but  he  did  not  seem  at  all 
inclined  to  go,  and  asked  whether  I  admired  Johnson. 
In  consequence  of  my  reply,  nothing  would  satisfy  him, 
but  conducting  us  to  Mrs.  Porter's  house,  showing  us  the 
walk  where  Johnson  ran  the  race  with  a  little  Scotch 
girl, — then  taking  us  to  the  Bishop's  Palace,  telling  us 
a  world  of  curious  matters  about  Lichfield ; — in  short 
lionizing  us.  The  oddest  thing  he  mentioned  was 
that  the  house  shown  as  Johnson's  birth-place  is 
decidedly  not  the  house  where  he  was  born — and  he 
narrated  so  many  circumstances  in  corroboration  of  this 
statement,  that  I  really  almost  believe  him.  .  .  .  Another 
gentleman  (Dr.  Harwood,  the  author  and  antiquary) 
showed  us  all  manner  of  Johnsonian  relics — beginning 
with  books  and  autograph  letters  in  abundance,  and 

G  2 


84  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

ending  with   tea  cups,  a  tea  board,  punch   bowl,  and 
table  linen. 

"  From  Lichtield  we  rushed  to  Sheffield. — I  have  omitted 
to  praise  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  end  of  the  chancel 
built  by  Bishop  Langton;  but  that  we  admired  the 
master-piece  of  Lichfield,  you  will  of  course  understand, 
— not  forgetting  the  exquisite  sculpture  of  Chantrey. — 
Well,  we  went  to  Sheffield;  thence  to  Ecclesfield; 
thence  we  walked  to  Bradfield — slept  at  the  very  least 
of  little  inns — and  on  the  morrow,  after  drawing  and 
examining  registers,  walked  over  the  Moors  through  Bol- 
sterstone  to  a  place  called  Peniston.  These  places  are 
almost  out  of  the  world,  and  the  roads  between  them, 
being  cross-roads  (or  rather  no  roads  at  all,  for  the 
moors  are  only  recently  enclosed),  are  out  of  the  world. 
The  scenery  was  picturesque  enough  at  times,  but  the 
most  expressive  epithet  I  can  think  of  is,  wild.  I  never 
(except  in  the  Highlands),  walked  over  a  wilder  region — 
very  hilly — very  rocky — very  barren — the  villages  of 
extreme  rarity — the  hamlets  very  small  and  poor  and 
few — the  language  very  uncouth.  From  Peniston  we 
walked  to  Silkstone — and  here  it  is  time  to  mention  that 
Ecclestield,  Peniston,  and  Silkstone  are  graced  with 
most  beautiful  and  remarkable  Churches.  Ebenezer 
Elliott,  the  blacksmith  poet9,  beautifully  calls  Ecclesfield 
Church,  '  the  minster  of  the  Moors ' ;  and  it  well 
deserves  the  name 

9  I.  Ebenezer  Elliott  (b.  1781,  d.  ing  to  the  flowers,  and  birds,  and 
1 849)  the  son  of  an  iron-founder  at  trees,  "are  my  companions;  from 
Rotberam  in  Yorkshire, — a  man  of  them  I  derive  consolation  and  hope ; 
extraordinary  mark  and  mental  for  nature  is  all  harmony  and 
power.  His  best  known  piece,  beauty,  and  man  will  one  day  be 
perhaps,  is  his  '  Com  IMW  Rhymes,'  like  her ;  and  the  war  of  castes  and 
which  gave  an  impetus  to  the  the  war  for  bread  will  be  no  more." 
ultimately  successful  agitation  a-  The  word  "  ironmonger,"  perhaps, 
gainst  the  Corn  Laws.  Though  he  would  more  accurately  than  "black- 
wrote  on  political  subjects  defiantly  smith  "  denote  the  occupation  by 
and  bitterly,  as  considering  the  which  he  gained  a  moderate  for- 
people  to  be  down-trodden  and  tune.  The  above  particulars  are 
refused  their  rights,  there  was  a  taken  from  the  'Imperial  Dictionary 
vein  of  true  pathos  in  his  poetry.  of  Universal  Biography,'  s.  r. 
"  These,"  said  he  to  a  friend,  point-  ELLIOTT,  EBEXEZEB. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  85 

"  Although  one  needs  not  to  travel  beyond  the  precincts 
of  one's  hearth-rug  to  know  and  to  feel  the  blessed 
privilege  of  our  Church  Establishment,  never  perhaps 
does  one  so  practically  and  fully  appreciate  its  value,  as 
when  one  is  taking  a  journey  and  finds  oneself  in  the 
position  described  by  a  living  poet — '  The  night  is  dark 
and  I  am  far  from  home.'  The  kindness  we  experienced 
wherever  we  went,  from  the  parochial  clergy,  was  truly 
surprising, — almost  touching. 

"  Do  not  fancy  that  I  thrust  myself  upon  any — but  it 
became  my  vocation,  going  to  consult  a  register,  to  call 
upon  its  cusfode.  The  preliminary  conversation  gener- 
ally terminated  in  a  request  that  we  would  consider 
ourselves  the  guests  of  the  family  for  the  rest  of  the  day 
— and  really,  however  grateful  we  felt,  and  however 
agreeable  such  an  episode  always  must  be,  the  kindness 
we  experienced  generally  proved  fatal  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  main  object  we  had  in  paying  the  visit. 

••  We  have  good  reason  to  remember  the  kindness  of  the 
clergyman  of  the  last-named  place — Silkstone ;  and  I 
believe  it. was  thinking  more  especially  of  him,  which 
occasioned  this  digression.  His  name  is  Watkins.  If 
I  were  to  begin  to  describe,  I  should  fill  my  paper ;  so 
pray  walk  on  with  us  to  Barnesley,  the  next  town, 
and  let  us  escape  the  fascination  of  all  the  bright  eyes 
at  Silkstone. 

••  We  entered  Barnesley  very  early  on  Sunday  morning 
— having  been  compelled,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the 
hour  when  we  left  the  vicarage,  to  bivouac  at  Silkstone, 
in  a  horrid  little  inn  (the  best  of  half-a-dozen  abominable 
ones),  in  a  room  which  the  night  before  had  accommo- 
dated four-and-twenty  ragamuffins,  who  called  them- 
selves foresters-,  and  kept  us  awake  all  night  with  their 
drunken  revelry  in  the  apartment  beneath.  We  had  a 
most  singular  sermon  at  Barnesley  from  Wolff  the  mis- 
sionary— and  here  having  passed  two  days — one  to 
please  ourselves,  and  one  to  please  the  clergyman, — we 
made  the  best  of  our  way  across  the  country  to  Burgh 
Wallis  and  Kirk  Brain  with — the  latter,  an  unapproach- 
able village  in  winter.  It  is  indeed  a  singularly  un- 


86  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

favoured  spot.  The  Humber  occasionally  floods  the 
adjacent  country,  and  has  been  known  to  stand  four 
inches  deep  in  the  rectory  parlour — and  such  a  rectory ! 
like  an  unhappy  farm  house!  The  church  is  also 
uninteresting — but  ancient  and  highly  picturesque.  Our 
forefathers  were  influenced  by  a  purer  spirit  than  we. 

"We  had  seen  sufficiently  rough  practice  during  the 
last  few  days  to  rejoice  to  find  ourselves  at  Doncaster — 
hi  terra  cognitd- — with  half  a  score  of  letters  awaiting  our 
arrival,  and  a  relay  of  that  nameless  commodity,  which  is 
after  all  the  very  mainspring  of  travelling.  Here  we 
also  found  that  a  lady  had  had  the  kindness  to  prepare 
a  kind  reception  for  us,  and  we  passed  a  pleasant 
evening  in  consequence  with  her  brother,  a  Mr.  Henry 
Bower.  His  library  would  please  you,  being  choice, 
and  containing  some  curious  books.  On  the  whole, 
getting  into  a  drawing-room,  or  a  library,  when  one  is 
far  from  home,  must  be  allowed  to  constitute  a  most 
charming  episode.  Your  stage-coach  and  railway  ar- 
rangements are  marvellously  brutalizing. 

"  Come  along,  sir !  I  cannot  allow  you  to  stand  fiddle- 
faddling  in  Doncaster.  Mr.  Bower,  as  you  see,  is  old 
and  weak,  and  it  is  a  shame  to  keep  him  struggling 
with  the  quartos,  which  he  is  scarcely  strong  enough  to 
lift  down  from  his  shelves,  or  to  replace  there.  Here  we 
are  at  Rotheram — pray  admire  the  beautiful  Church. — 
and  do  not  forget  Conigsburgh  Castle,  which  we  passed 
on  the  way.  A  quarter-of-an-hour  conducts  you  from 
Rotheram  to  Sheffield — at  least  it  conducted  us.  Here 
we  paused  for  half-a-day ;  and  then  went  by  the  rail- 
way to  York.  If  you  have  ever  seen,  or  if  you  have 
never  seen,  the  Minster,  it  matters  not.  In  the  one  case 
I  need  not — in  the  other,  it  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to 
attempt  to  describe  it.  I  had  seen  it  before,  but,  strange 
to  say,  I  had  forgotten  it— whether  since  1834  I  have 
learned  to  appreciate  more  fuUy  what  I  see,  or  whether 
my  eyes  have  improved  I  cannot  tell— but  this  time,  the 
Minster  literally  overcame  me.  I  felt  that  I  could  have 
gazed  upon  it  for  ever.  Its  enormous  size  is  not  by  any 
means  its  only  charm,  though  I  felt  sensibly  how 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  87 

prolific  a  source  of  sublimity  size  is.  Every  thing 
conspires  to  make  it  one  of  the  grandest  of  human 
creations.  Its  pale  grey  tint, — its  infinite  multiplicity 
of  detail,  its  variety  yet  harmony  of  parts — and  oh  ! 
above  all,  the  magnificent  prodigality  of  invention  which 
it  displays. — What  an  exquisite  mind  the  man  must 
have  had  which  could  harbour  such  a  conception  as 
York  Minster!  — how  pure  and  graceful  a  fancy! — what 
inexhaustible  copiousness  of  invention !  ...  It  literally 
takes  away  one's  breath  to  examine  such  a  structure. 
Why  do  we  attempt  nothing  like  it  now-a-days  ?  We 
can  squander  many  millions  sinfully ; — Why  do  we 
never  devote  one  million  to  raising  a  temple  to  Almighty 
God1? 

"  We  returned,  as  we  came,  and  then  proceeded  to  the 
Peak  of  Derbyshire — crossing  some  very  Scotch-looking 
moors,  till  we  cast  anchor  at  Castleton.  Three  days 
soon  slipped  away,  while  we  were  exploring  the  mines 
and  caverns  of  this  interesting  district — nor  were  the 
hours  we  passed  with  Dr.  Orton,  the  vicar  of  a  neigh- 
bouring village — Hope — the  least  agreeably  or  profitably 
spent.  He  was  honest  enough  to  declare  he  considered 
an  intelligent  being  to  converse  with,  as  so  great  a  prize, 
that  if  we  wanted  to  give  him  pleasure,  we  must  agree 
to  pass  our  evenings  with  him  and  his  family.  The 
want  of  society  in  so  remote  a  region  must  indeed  be 
severely  felt.  Think  of  a  parish  35  miles  in  extent — 
containing  12  or  13  hamlets,  unprovided  with  churches, 
and  think  of  the  consequent  mental  stagnation !  .  .  . 

"  Our  visits  to  two  of  the  Derbyshire  mines  gave  us 
quite  a  new  idea  on  the  subject  of  the  famous  Peak 
cavern.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  entire  district 
is  perforated  by  a  thousand  natural  passages,  and  that 
where  these  accidentally  encounter  the  surface,  there  a 
cavern  becomes  celebrated.  Exploring  some  of  these 
holes  was  pleasant  enough,  but  far  pleasanter  was  it,  to 
emerge  from  their  recesses  into  the  holy  daylight,  and 
look  down  the  Vale  of  Hope — one  of  the  most  peaceful — 
and  when  seen  as  we  saw  it,  steeped  in  the  golden  light 
of  autumn — one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  this  Vale  of  Tears. 


88  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  Leaving  Hope,  we  went  to  Bakewell,  having  taken 
Chatsworth  and  all  its  royal  splendours  in  our  way. 
Haddon  Hall  is  far  more  to  my  taste.  You  have  doubt- 
less visited  that  glorious  old  baronial  residence, — to  walk 
through  which,  is  to  live  in  the  reign  of  good  Queen 
Bess,  and  to  feel  oneself  brought  into  closer  intimacy 
as  it  were  with  the  great  and  gay  of  those  days.  Here 
we  drew  and  raved  our  fill, — and  then  followed  a  rather 
amusing  episode. 

"  Some  thirty  years  ago,  my  father  travelled  in  Greece 
with  a  son  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Darwin1.  When  they 
parted,  (which  was  at  Smyrna) — Darwin  was  bound  for 
Lichfield,  and  my  father  for  London— so,  after  the  long 
interval,  when  Tom  and  I  announced  our  wish  to  go  to 
Lichfield,  il  Padrone  proposed  introducing  us  to  his 
friend,  and  gave  us  a  letter  accordingly  to  Dr.  Francis 
Sacheverell  Darwin.  With  some  palpitation  as  to  the 
reception  we  were  likely  to  receive  on  reaching  Lich- 
field, to  the  old  house  of  the  Darwins  we  repaired — a 
huge  red-brick  mansion  house,  such  as  one's  grand-dad 
would  have  inhabited.  We  were  laughed  at  for  our  pains. 
The  Dai-wins  had  quitted  Lichfield  for  twenty  years. 
Dr.  was  Sir  Francis  Darwin — in  short,  we  looked  so  like 
the  descendants  of  Rip  Van  Winkle,  that  we  looked  quite 
foolish — so  the  letter  of  introduction  was  thrust  back 
into  the  portmanteau,  and  all  hopes  of  talking  over  lang 
syne  with  Darwin  ides  abandoned. 

"But  when  we  were  at  Bakewell,  to  our  surprise  we 
discovered  that  we  were  within  seven'  miles  of  the 
knight,  who  lived  near  Darley  Dale,  we  were  told,  and 
in  short,  from  the  report  we  heard  of  him  and  his,  we 

1  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin  [6.  1731,  Burgon,    appeared  in    1781.     It  is 

d.  1802],  a  physician  at  Lichfield,  divided   into    two   parts,    the   first 

eminent  as  a  physiologist  and  poet.  being  devoted  to  the  phenomena  of 

He    and    Dr.    Johnson    were    the  vegetation,   and  the  second  to   the 

centres  of  two  circles  at  Lichfield,  <  Loves  of  the  Plants,'  a  poetical 

entirely  distinct  from  one  another  version   of    the    sexual    system   of 

in  sympathies,  politics,  and  creed.  Linnams.       See     'Imperial      Dic- 

'The  liotanic  Garden,'  some  lines  tionary  of  Universal    Biography: 

f  which,  in    the    old  physician's  «.  v.  DARWIN,  ERASMUS. 
handwriting,     his     eon     gave     to 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  89 

determined  to  march  to  Sydnope  (for  so  his  house  is 
called),  and  take  his  worship  by  the  beard.  It  was  a 
pleasant  walk,  but  a  queer  country  to  go  speering  after 
a  stranger  in.  and  we  were  led  a  weary  dance  over  the 
hills  before  we  discovered  his  homestead.  At  last  we 
reached  a  solitary  place — far  off  and  alone — on  the 
shoulder  of  a  hill,  and  commanding  a  wide  and  wild 
view — and  there  we  found  the  object  of  our  search.  He 
was  not  a  little  surprised,  but  I  believe  more  pleased 
than  surprised,  to  see  us.  I  was  older  than  my  father 
was,  when  he  parted  from  Darwin,  and  the  sight  of  us 
set  our  host  a-dreaming  of  old  times,  and  seemed  to 
make  him  feel  that  he  was  an  oldish  man.  He  intro- 
duced us  to  his  wife  and  daughters  (grown  up  women  by 
the  way),  and  we  passed  a  very  happy  evening. 

"  Next  day  he  showed  me  some  of  his  father's  books, 
gave  me  four  lines  of  '  The  Botanic  Garden '  in  his 
father's  autograph  and  lionized  us  over  his  singular 
dwelling :  after  which  we  reluctantly  bade  him  farewell ; 
and  his  son  conducted  us  a  round-about  way  across  the 
hills  to  Matlock.  .  .  .  On  the  whole  Sir  F.  D.  is  a  very 
remarkable  creature.  I  think  there  is  something  morbid 
in  his  temperament ;  for  he  seemed  to  shrink  from  the 
idea  of  London,  and  wandering  from  his  own  fireside. 
He  said  he  hoped  to  live  quietly  and  to  die  there — and 
never  to  stir  till  he  went  down  to  be  buried  with  his 
fathers  in  the  family  resting-place,  which  is  not  far 
oft'.  .  .  .  Sydnope  is  all  of  his  own  contrivance ;  and  he 
glories  in  having  created  an  oasis  in  that  wilderness. 
When  he  came,  there  was  no  house — no  water — no  "trees 
— un  /tof/ii/i;/  !  '  Now,'  said  he,  '  I  have  built  a  village — 
here  is  abundance  of  wood  and  water,  yonder  are  three 
trout  ponds ' — in  short,  he  seemed  to  think  it  a  <1isgra.ce 
to  live  in  a  house  made  comfortable  to  your  hand,  and 
has  let  a  fine  old  paternal  mansion  to  strangers,  accord- 
ingly. He  procured  a  wild  boar  from  the  Pyrenees,  and 
a  sow  from  Canton,  and  peopled  his  woods  with  wild 
boars  to  the  terror  of  all  the  country  round ;  but  the 
breed  is  deteriorating  now — in  other  words  the  neigh- 
bours are  no  longer  kept  in  fcrrorem.  But  enough  of 


90  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Sydnope  and  its  kind  owner.     Six  or  seven  hours  on  the 
railway  brought  us  from  Matlock  to  Brunswick  Square." 

1841.  In  the  year  1841  the  storm,  which  had  been  long 
2  '  impending,  was  to  burst  upon  the  head  of  his  family. 
To  himself  it  proved  the  means  of  bringing  about  what 
he  had  so  long  and  earnestly  desired,  and  thus  broke 
with  blessings  on  his  head.  In  the  latter  end  of  March 
and  at  the  beginning  of  August  we  find  such  entries  as 
these  in  his  journal;  "Miserable  day  at  the  counting- 
house  "  ;  "  Passion  week,  and  to  me  a  day  of  suffering — 
mental," — "  a  day  like  some  of  the  preceding,  quite  the 
shadow  of  death," — "  a  day  of  rare  excitement  and 
anguish,"  &c.,  &c.  But  in  the  middle  of  it  all  he  is  still, 
with  wonderful  mental  energy,  pursuing  more  congenial 
occupations,  getting  "  fragments  of  Roman  pottery  from 
the  foundations  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Church," — "  draw- 
ing the  Roman  tesselated  pavement  in  Threadneedle 
Street," — "  visiting  his  friend  Renouard  at  Swancombe, 
and  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  Rose  at  Houghton/' — "read- 
ing No.  90  of  the  Oxford  Tracts/'  and  "  Newman's  letter  " 
thereon, — going  "  to  a  conversazione  at  Crosby  Hall" — "  pro- 
ceeding with  my  Harmony,"  "finishing  roughing  out 
my  Harmony," — (the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  a  work 
which  he  had  much  at  heart,  which  he  began  long  before 
he  went  to  Oxford,  carried  on  at  intervals  during  his 
whole  life,  but  has  left  alas !  in  an  unfinished  state,  with 
an  instruction  that  it  is  not  sufficiently  advanced  for  pub- 
lication). On  the  Ascension  Day  (Thursday,  May  20), 
"They  all  went  to  Dodsworth's,  and  took  the  Sacra- 
ment ; — I  could  not" 

When  we  come  to  the  month  of  August,  we  are  con- 
fronted by  this  ominous  memorandum  at  the  top  of  the 
page,"  !£&  Perhaps  the  most  memorable  page  in  this  book." 
"  Aug.  2.  A  day  of  cruel  anxiety,  occasioned  by  a  letter 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  91 

found  at  the  City."  "  Aug.  5.  TJie  plot  begins  to  thicken 
—bitter  state  of  anxiety," — and  so  on,  until  we  come  to 
"  Thurs.  Aug.  19.  Saddish  day — Final  winding  up  by 
T.  B."  (his  father)  t:at  the  City — his  last  day  there.— 
Thank  GOD,  every  thing  went  very  well."  The  bolt 
had  fallen ;  his  father's  house  of  business  had  suspended 
payment,  and  his  family  had  touched  the  lowest  deep ; 
but  the  "  cruel  anxiety "  was  over,  for  the  worst  was 
known,  and  it  now  remained  for  John  William  Burgon 
to  show  the  indomitable  energy  and  sanguineness  which 
were  in  him.  by  rising  above  misfortunes  and  lifting 
himself,  and  those  who  were  in  great  measure  dependent 
upon  him,  out  of  the  wreck.  The  family  removed  to 
Houghton  Conquest  Rectory  in  Bedfordshire,  the  Rev. 
Henry  John  Rose's  living,  who  had  married  his  elder 
sister  in  j  838.  Burgon  himself  was  left  in  London  for  a 
lew  weeks,  to  pack  furniture  and  books,  to  make  up  the 
accounts  of  the  house  for  presentation  in  Bankruptcy, 
to  make  up  also  the  household  accounts,  assort  the 
tradesmen's  bills,  and  clear  out  the  counting-house.  But 
the  sable  cloud  had  its  silver  lining  which  it  turned  forth 
on  the  night.  He  managed  to  escape  for  a  day  or  two  to 
Houghton  Conquest,  where  he  had  "a  joyous  meeting" 
with  the  other  members  of  his  family ;  and  on  "  Sun. 
August  29.  Professor  Corrie  and  I  stood  Godfathers  for 
Rose's  little  boy"  (Hugh  James  Rose — so  named  after  his 
illustrious  uncle, — who  had  been  born  in  the  previous 
December,  so  that  in  all  probability  the  Sacrament  of 
Baptism  had  been  privately  administered  to  him,  and 
this  was  only  his  Admission  to  the  Church). — On  his 
return  to  London,  the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  was 
carried  on  vigorously  in  September,  and  he  speaks  of 
himself  as  "  in  the  evening  busy  with  my  Greek."  The 
Greek  would  be  wanted  at  Oxford,  and  the  consent  of 


g  2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

his  father  to  his  going  to  Oxford  was  given  on  the  9th 
of  October.  On  the  i6th  he  rejoined  the  family  at 
Houghton  preparatory  to  his  going  up,  under  the 
auspices  of  his  brother-in-law,  for  matriculation,  an 
account  of  which  will  be  given  in  the  next  Chapter. 
It  needs  not  to  be  said  that  with  a  family  so  generally 
esteemed,  and  so  much  beloved  by  those  who  had  the 
privilege  of  intimacy  with  them,  the  sympathy  was 
universal.  "  The  creditors  all  behaved  most  kindly,"  he 
writes  in  his  journal.  "  Tytler  wept,  when  I  told  him." 
And  on  the  2oth  of  August,  in  the  letter  in  which  he 
announces  the  catastrophe  to  Mr.  Dawson  Turner,  he 
says,  "  Your  friendly  spirit,  I  am  sure  I  am  not  mistaken 
in  supposing,  will  partake  the  gratification  I  feel  in 
mentioning  the  universal  sympathy,  which  hitherto  my 
dear  father  has  met  with.  I  may  truly  say  that  it  is 
quite  touching  and  affecting."  From  a  second  letter  to 
him,  dated  three  days  later  (Aug.  23),  it  appears  that 
Mr.  Turner,  when  the  announcement  reached  him,  by  no 
means  contented  himself  with  expressions  of  sympathy 
and  kind  feeling,  but  with  his  usual  considerate  munifi- 
cence offered  his  purse  to  his  young  friend,  probably 
(out  of  delicacy)  in  the  shape  of  a  loan  which  Burgon 
might  repay,  when  he  had  reached  that  position  of 
independence  to  which  Mr.  Turner  felt  that  his  abilities 
and  industry  would  soon  raise  him.  In  answer  to  this 
generous  offer  he  writes  (Aug.  23,  1 841)  :— 

"  Sincerely  thanking  you  for  your  prompt  and  busi- 
ness-like way  of  meeting  the  exigency  of  the  case,  I 
have  the  pleasure  to  say  that  for  the  present  at  all  events, 
I  do  not  see  the  least  occasion  for  troubling  you.  Do 
not  think  that  I  am  shilly-shallying  now:  when  I  tell 
you  that  your  letter  found  me  with  my  Greek  Grammar 
in  my  hand,  jou  will  guess  which  way  my  thoughts  are 
tending, — whither,  believe  me,  they  have  been  tending 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  93 

long  since,  though  never  till  now  with  any  good  chance 
of  my  body  following  them.  The  future,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  seems  to  stand  thus.  For  three  months 
(about)  I  am  indispensable  here  "  [in  London].  "  At  the 
end  of  that  time.  I  intend  (D.  V.)  to  go  to  Houghton, 
where  a  quiet  room,  the  run  of  a  good  classical  library 
(better  than  I  need,  a  furious  deal)— and  dear  Rose's 
help — these  three  blessings  have  long  since  been  promised 
me.  My  backwardness  (in  Greek  especially)  is  what 
vou  would  not  believe ;  and  indeed  my  ignorance  gener- 
ally is  frightful.  I  can  only  hope  by  a  few  months' 
serious  application  to  get  into  a  condition  to  be  fit  to  go 
to  Oxford. 

"  Then  my  necessities  will  begin.  What  they  will  be, 
I  know  not.  If  it  depended  on  me,  I  should  say  little 
enough.  ...  I  shall  keep  no  society ;  get  into  a  garret,  if 
I  can,  (for  lico  reasons), — my  habits  are  quite  the  reverse 
of  expensive, — and  I  have  books.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
good  Tutor  I  will  have,  coute  qne  coule.  I  cannot  suppose 
that  I  shall  want  much  more  than  £\w  a  year, — at 
least  I  fix  that  sum  in  my  mind  as  a  kind  of  point  to 
reason  from. 

"  Now  my  inclination  would  assuredly  be  not  to  tres- 
pass upon  any  resources  my  father  might  have,  at  all:  but 
the  propriety"  [possibility?]  "  of  gratifying  this  inclina- 
tion, I  have  yet  to  learn.  Meantime  I  go  to  work  with  the 
soothing  certainty  that,  in  case  of  need,  there  are  certain 
friends  (I  believe,  if  the  truth  were  known,  you  occupy 
the  van)  on  whom  I  may  RSLY  for  aid  in  the  promotion 
of  my  scheme. — I  hope  I  am  not  premature  in  mention- 
ing an  item  in  my  intentions,  in  such  case,  on  which  I 
dwell  with  singular  complacency.  It  is  this.  Since 
Death  is  the  only  barrier  I  can  conceive  to  my  ulti- 
mately disencumbering  myself  of  the  painful  part  of  a 
pecuniary  obligation  (for  of  the  obligation,  I  neither 
could  nor  would  wish  to  rid  myself),— I  should  deposit 
a  small  life  policy  in  your  own — or  any  other  person's 
— hands.  Thus  dying,  I  should  close  my  eyes  in  peace, 
and  living,  I  should  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  made 
a  small  provision  (a  beginning  towards  something  con- 


94  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

siderable)  for  those  who  are  far  dearer  to  me  than  life 
itself." 

And  then,  after  some  further  particulars  of  his  plans 
and  prospects  for  his  family  and  himself,  follows  a  para- 
graph which  exhibits  the  wonderful  elasticity  of  his  mind 
under  trouble,  and  the  sanguineness  of  the  energy,  which 
could  address  itself  to  new  literary  exploits  in  so  grave 
a  crisis  of  his  fortunes  : — 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  advice  respecting  any  publica- 
tion on  so  difficult  a  matter  as  Early  Christianity ;  but 
I  will  tell  you  what  I  contemplated. 

"  I  perceive  that  men  are  mightily  disposed  to  dislike 
the  authority  of  the  Fathers  :  so  that  when  Mr.  Newman 
writes  on  '  the  Church  of  the  Fathers,'  it  is  replied,  '  Oh, 
who  cares  for  them  ? '  At  least  out  of  ten  devout  persons 
three  or  four  or  five  would  say  so.  Well ; — it  struck  me 
that  the  right  thing  would  be  to  write  a  little  book  (or  a 
big  one,  if  the  matter  allowed),  and  to  call  it  the  Church  of 
the  Apostles,  since  no  one  objects  to  them.  The  design  is 
simply  this.  To  exhibit,  from  whatever  source, — but  of 
course  mainly  from  Holy  Writ,  what  was  the  constitu- 
tion and  actual  state  of  the  Church  in  the  Apostles' 
days.  Any  one  who  has  not  thought  much  on  the 
subject  would  never  believe  or  dream  of  the  astounding 
quantity  of  available  matter  there  is  in  the  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul,  and  indeed  throughout  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  perfectly  astonishing  how  much  may  be  elicited 
and  inferred.  A  little  aid  may  be  drawn  from  ancient 
monuments  ;  and  it  was  in  reply  to  a  hasty  hint  dropped 
on  this  part  of  the  subject,  that  dear  Rose,  who  is  ever 
ready  to  help  me  in  everything  of  the  kind,  took  fire. — 
You  shall  hear  more  of  this  scheme,  D.  V.  some  of  these  ilays 
.  .  .  Remember  your  promise  to  read  Bp.  Beveridge." 

This  contemplated  work  appeal's  to  have  dropped 
through  from  the  multiplicity  of  other  calls  upon  his 
time,  unless  indeed  we  may  say  that  much  the  same 
design  was  afterwards  carried  into  effect  by  him  in 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  95 

another  form, — that  of  a  Series  of  Lectures  on  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  a  work  which  he  has  left  complete,  and 
which  only  needs  for  its  production  careful  editing,  and 
such  a  number  of  subscribers  as  would  guarantee  his 
representatives  against  pecuniary  loss,  if  they  were  to 
publish  it.  How  deeply  interesting  these  Lectures  were 
found  by  those  who  were  privileged  to  hear  them,  and 
how  greatly  these  persons  long  for  their  publication,  not 
only  as  recalling  to  themselves  personally  the  happy  and 
sacred  hours  spent  in  listening  to  them,  but  as  a  valuable 
contribution  to  the  exegesis  and  spiritual  teaching  of 
that  most  important  portion  of  the  New  Testament,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  say.  Let  it  be  lawful  to  hope 
that  some  practical  steps  may  ere  long  be  taken  in  this 
direction. 

The  last  incident  which  has  to  be  recorded  of  the  year 
1841  is  the  commencement  of  the  exquisite  drawings  of 
his  father's  valuable  collection  of  Greek  Antiquities, 
which  it  was  arranged  should  be  offered  for  sale  to  the 
British  Museum.  It  wrung  John  William  Burgon's 
heart  (both  as  a  connoisseur,  and  as  having  known  every 
article  in  the  collection  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life, 
ami  having  gloried  in  his  family's  possession  of  so  great 
a  treasure)  to  part  with  these  antiquities.  And  he  deter- 
mined that  the  collection  should  not  leave  his  father's 
roof  without  his  making  a  faithful  drawing  of  all  the 
principal  articles  in  it,  however  much  labour  such  an 
enterprise  might  entail  upon  himself.  Here  is  the 
memorandum,  which  he  makes  in  his  Journal  on  a  sub- 
ject which  must  have  touched  him  to  the  quick. 

"I  began  to  draw  the  collection  of  Greek  antiquities 
7  December,  1841,  and  drew  almost  without  intermission 
till  24  January,  1842.  From  that  day  to  2  March  drew 
for  about  seven  hours  a  day,  when  I  completed  the  task. 


96  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

— It  was  providentially  decided  that  the  Collection  was 
to  pass  to  the  British  Museum  for  j£'6oo  on  Wednesday, 
23  March. 

"  Conveyed  to  the  Museum  on  Ascension  Day,  Thurs- 
day, 5  May,  1842.  Sic  transit " 

It  was  thought  desirable  that  these  drawings,  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  family,  should  be  taken  to  the 
Museum,  and  there  left  awhile  for  the  careful  identifica- 
tion of  each  Article.  The  portfolio  containing  them  has 
been  returned  with  the  following  memorandum  from 
Mr.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  of  the  Department  of  Greek  and 
Roman  Antiquities : — 

"  Mr.  Burgon's  drawings  are  all  taken  from  objects  in 
the  Burgon  collection,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

"Apart  from  the  delicacy  of  the  dra wings,  they  are 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  skill  with  which  they  repro- 
duce the  various  styles  and  characters  of  the  objects. 
This  power  of  reproducing  a  variety  of  styles  with 
accuracy  is  seldom  acquired  except  by  draughtsmen 
specially  trained  to  the  work. 

"The  principal  objects  in  the  collection  have  for  the 
most  part  been  satisfactorily  published  elsewhere. 

"  If  it  is  desired  to  publish  specimens,  I  would  suggest 
the  urn  numbered  282,  282  A.  This  urn  has  not  been 
engraved,  and  its  colouring  has  much  deteriorated  since 
Mr.  Burgon's  sketch  was  made. 

"The  manuscript  notes  attached  add,  in  some  in- 
stances, information  of  value,  not  hitherto  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Museum,  as  to  the  origin  of  the  objects. 
Compare  a  note  sent  by  me  to  the  '  Classical  Eerieu- '  of 
November,  1889,  respecting  the  bronze  hare,  numbered 
334. — A.  H.  SMITH." 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  a  copy  of  the  drawing 
of  the  urn  numbered  282,  282  A  cannot  be  presented  to 
the  reader,  but  the  tinting  of  these  sketches  constitutes 
perhaps  their  greatest  beauty,  and  could  not  be  satis- 
factorily reproduced. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  97 

Before  concluding  this  Chapter,  as  it  is  proposed  to  do, 
by  presenting  to  the  reader  a  few  further  extracts  from  his 
letters  of  this  early  period  to  Mr.  Fellows,  to  Mr.  Dawson 
Turner,  and  to  Mr.  Renouard,  all  of  them  extremely  char- 
acteristic of  the  writer  (of  his  deep  interest  in  those  old 
archives,  which  are  the  sources  of  history,  and  in  antiqui- 
ties generally,  in  discoveries  and  explorations ;  of  his  love 
of  fun ;  of  his  love  of  and  connoisseurship  in  Art ;  of  his 
conjectures  in  etymology),  it  seems  desirable  to  say  some- 
thing of  the  divines  and  clergy,  under  whose  influence 
he  was  brought  during  the  thirteen  years  which  elapsed 
between  his  leaving  school  in  1829  and  his  going  to 
Oxford  in  1842,  and  whose  teaching  must  have  helped 
to  form  his  religious  character.  The  family  had  sittings 
at  St.  Pancras  under  the  incumbency  of  Dr.  Moore,  and 
usually  attended  that  Church  ;  but  John  William  had 
conceived  an  ardent  admiration  for  the  preaching  of  Mr. 
Dale,  then  Vicar  of  St.  Bride's,  and.  as  he  never  cared 
to  attend  Church  alone  (the  exuberant  sympathy  in  his 
nature  made  this  distasteful  to  him),  used  frequently 
to  persuade  his  mother,  whom  he  loved  to  have  by  his 
side  at  Church,  and  other  members  of  his  family,  to 
accompany  him  to  St.  Bride's.  Against  the  Sundays  in 
his  Journals  (the  S.  denoting  which  is  always  written  in 
red  ink,  to  mark  it  to  the  eye)  we  find  such  entries  as 
these:  "Heard  dear  old  Dale  at  St.  Bride's  preach  a 
beautiful  sermon "  ;  "  M.  C.  and  I  went  to  hear  Dale 
preach  at  St.  Giles's  —  capital  —  divine  sermon — was 
delighted  to  hear  his  old  voice  again "  ;  "  Mother's 
birthday.  Gave  her  Dale's  sermons — pd.  10*.  6d"  Some- 
times, for  a  spiritual  treat,  he  takes  them  to  hear  Melvill, 
at  that  time  the  most  eminent  pulpit  orator  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  English  Church;  "Went  with  M.  and 
Lingham  to  hear  Melvill — Glorious  !  "  "  Heard  Melvill 

VOL.  i.  H 


98  '  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

preach  in  Fenchurch  Street  before  the  Lord  Mayor— lie  is 
a  sensible  Irving  "  (of  Irving  he  could  form  some  judgment, 
as  he  writes  in  his  Journal  that  one  Sunday  he  heard  him 
"  preaching  sub  dio  ") ;  "  Heard  Mr.  Melvill  preach  a  fine 
sermon,  full  of  force  and  beauty,  at  Bedford  Chapel." 
Sometimes,  but  very  rarely,  he  wanders  out  of  the  Angli- 
can fold  for  his  spiritual  pasture  on  Sunday  ; — "  Heard 
Dr.  Chalmers  at  the  Scotch  Church — magnificent — but  I 
never  was  in  such  a  crowd  before." — And  the  following 
entiy  will  be  read  with  interest,  in  reference  to  his  own 
future  sermons,  which  were  so  original  and  instruc- 
tive ;  "  Dec.  6,  1835  "  {.Mat.  22].  "  Heard  Dale — '  Come 
to  me  ye  that  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest' — the  text  I  have  always  thought  I  would  make 
my  first  sermon  on,  if  I  were  in  the  Church — he  made  a 
powerful  sermon,  but  did  not  handle  the  text  as  I  think 
of  handling  it .  .  ."  Later  in  point  of  time,  and  conse- 
quent chiefly  on  the  family's  moving  from  Brunswick 
Square  to  Osnaburgh  Street,  they  had  sittings  in  Christ 
Church,  Albany  Street,  which  then  became  their  district 
Church ;  but  previously  to  the  removal,  John  William 
had  often  been  attracted  to  Mr.  Dodsworth's  ministry ; 
and  then  we  have  such  entries  as  these :  "  P.  T.  and  I  to 
Dodsworth's  (Laus  Deo!) — magnificent  sermon."  The 
following  memoranda  will  have  interest  for  those 
who  remember  the  raging  of  a  controversy,  excited 
by  a  charge  of  Bishop  Blomfield,  once  fierce  enough, 
but  now  almost  exploded  like  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano ;  for  the  surplice  has  all  but  driven  the  gown 
out  of  the  field:  "Jan.  24,  1841.  Dodsworth,  with  M. 
and  E. — He  preached  first  time  in  his  surplice."  "  Jan. 
31,  1841.  Heard  Mr.  Manning  at  Dodsworth's."  "  Feb. 
7,  1841.  To  Dodsworth,  who  preached  in  his  gown!!" 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  influence  brought  to 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  99 

bear  upon  him  by  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Dodsworth,  and 
other  clergymen  of  the  same  theological  school,  would  tend 
to  incline  him  towards  the  Tractarian  movement  then  in 
progress  at  Oxford,  and  would  predispose  him  to  receive 
favourably  in  its  earlier  stages  the  teaching  of  Mr.  New- 
man, for  whom  he  conceived  the  deepest  reverence, — a 
sentiment  which  never  forsook  him,  even  when  Mr.  New- 
man seceded  from  the  English  Church.  How  little  he 
sympathized  with  the  extravagances  and  (as  he  regarded 
them)  corruptions  which  developed  themselves  at  a  later 
stage  of  the  movement,  and  were  characterized  chiefly  by 
sensational  services  and  an  efflorescence  of  Ritualism, 
every  one  knows,  who  remembers  the  course  taken  by 
him  in  the  controversies  of  later  days,  and  which  it  will 
be  the  province  of  a  subsequent  Chapter  to  record. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  TO  MR.  FELLOWS,  TO  MR. 
DAWSOX  TURNER,  OF  GREAT  YARMOUTH,  AND  TO 
THE  REVEREND  GEORGE  CECIL  RENOUARD,  B.D., 
RKCTOR  OF  SWANSCOMBE  IN  KENT,  IN  THE  YEARS 
1833,  1838,  1839,  1840,  1841. 

I.    To  MR.  CHARLES  FELLOWS. 

"June  21.  Shortest  Night,  1833.  To-day  is  the 
longest  day  ...  I  am  always  unhappy  on  this  day  ;  and 
at  a  moment  like  the  present,  when  all  is  silent  save  the 
wind,  which  is  low  and  gusty,  and  Time,  whose  quick 
footsteps  I  fancy  I  discern  in  the  ticking  of  my  watch,  a 
feeling  of  sadness  comes  over  me,  which  is  as  groundless 
as  it  is  without  remedy  .  .  .  After  all,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  nights,  what  a  stupid  thing  life  would  be  ...  When 
should  we  poor  Merchant-rum  breathe,  eh  ?  Eh,  you 
freeman,  you  bachelor,  you  rogue?  ...  I  fancy, — nay, 
I'm  sure,  that  nights  were  invented  (among  other  good 
reasons)  for  the  convenience  and  consolation  of  dis- 

H  2 


ioo  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

contented  Merchant-men.  Oh !  F.,  what  will  become  of 
me,  if  I  don't  grow  wiser  as  I  grow  older?  am  I  destined 
to  be  a  new  edition,  with  illustrations,  of  the  old  story — 
a  garret  and  a  half-penny  loaf?  I  hope  not,  with  all  my 
soul  ...  I  am  not  quite  jockey  enough  to  ride  Pegasus 
without  saddle  or  bridle ;  but  intend  either  to  have  a 
stall  for  the  beast,  or,  if  I  can't  afford  it,  to  have  him  ciif 
up  for  the  hounds  .  .  .  Both  resources  are  attended  how- 
ever with  inconvenience :  and  I  have  made*up  my  mind 
that  the  happiest  man  after  all  is  the  matter-of-fact,  cold 
devil,  who  knows  how  to  mind  his  purse,  and  keep  his 
temper,  who  has  got  no  vulture  passions  to  quiet,  and 
who  cannot  discern  joy  and  sorrow  at  a  league's  distance 
.  .  .  For  my  own  part,  I  feel  I  am  irrevocably  a  poet,  and 
therefore  the  opposite  to  the  being  I  have  sketched. 
Yet,  strange  to  say,  I  envy  not  that  man  his  sangfroid  or 
his  purse  ;  I  think  his  happiness  is  bought  at  too  dear  a 
price. 

"  Here  I  go,  you  see,  on  the  old  tack  :  but  I  can't  help 
it.  If  I  were  to  tell  you  all  (I  could  not  tell  you  all. — I 
only  mean,  if  I  could),  you  would  stare.—  I  mean,  all  the 
odd  ways  of  thinking  I  have  lately  acquired  .  .  .  Do  you 
know  I  feel  as  if  I  were  two  persons,  or,  rather,  as  if  I 
had  two  brains  ?  the  one  sees  things  as  they  are,  or  as 
they  appear  to  be,  and  that  is  my  matter-of-fact  brain ; 
the  other  sees  things  as,  I  suppose  I  must  say,  they  are 
not,  that  is  to  say,  fancifully — and  that  is  my  imagin- 
ative brain.  I  religionise  and  philosophize  with  both 
these  brains  ;  one  presents  me  with  a  straightforward, 
tangible  view  of  the  subject,  and  the  other  with  a 
strange,  sceptical  idea  of  it :  and  the  sceptical,  shadowy 
idea  confuses  the  clear  and  substantial  one ;  and  the 
clear  and  substantial  one  mars  the  elegance  of  the  scep- 
tical and  shadowy  .  .  .  When  I  was  younger,  I  had  more 
reason  than  imagination  ;  as  I  grow  older  I  find  the  latter 
acquires  strength  and  impairs  the  former.  So  much  the 
better  for  my  poetry,  but  so  much  the  worse  for  my 
religion.  I  have  come  to  the  resolution  therefore  of 
thinking  on  religious  matters  only  with  my  matter-of-fact 
brain,  and  keeping  my  sceptical  one  for  profane  matters. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  101 

...  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  Fa  if//  is  nine- tenths  of  our 
duty :  and  to  see  its  full  importance,  consider  it  not  so 
much  as  an  end.  as,  as  a  means.  To  give  you  an  idea  of 
my  two  brains'  mode  of  action,  and  to  take  a  simple 
instance.  I  am  alone,  we  will  suppose,  and  I  pluck  a 
flower ;  in  a  moment  my  fanciful  brain  invests  it  with 
feeling,  and  the  flower  reproaches  me  for  plucking  it ; 
but  my  sensible  brain  then  thinks  it  high  time  to  step 
in,  and  sneer  at  my  credulity  and  my  folly.  Do  you 
understand  me?  I  hardly  understand  myself,  but  have 
given  you  a  bad  example  of  what  I  mean.  Farewell 
however  for  the  present.  I  have  made  you  my  father 
confessor,  you  see.  Good-night,  dear  F.  If  you  have 
leisure  and  inclination,  scribble  a  line  to 

"  Your  ever  affectionate  friend, 

-JOHN  W.  BUBGON. 
-  i  to  2." 

II.    To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Brunswick  Square,  April  2,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — I  remember  being  very  much 

affected  by  a  sermon  I  once  read  of  Mr.  Newman's.  It 
was  on  the  use  of  ht/jnit&ex,  and,  as  well  as  I  can  recollect, 
the  writer  urged  the  importance  of  acting,  in  spiritual 
matters,  on  the  holy  impulse  of  the  moment,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  very  transient  nature  of  the  motive 
constituted  in  fact  the  strongest  reason  why  it  should  be 
instantly  availed  of.  This  beautiful  precept,  which  is 
identical,  in  a  measure,  with  your  own  invaluable  rule, 
'  to  do  everything  the  instant  you  think  of  it,' — I  have 
constantly  endeavoured  to  apply  to  the  daily  practice  of 
life  ;  and,  to  come  to  the  subject  before  us,  without 
further  circumlocution,  I  have  repeatedly  had  occasion 
to  perceive  how,  in  the  case  of  letter- writing,  every  thing 
depends  (if  you  would  write  a  pleasant  letter)  on  sitting 
down  when  the  humour  comes  upon  you, — and  the  in- 
xfaitf  it  comes  upon  you  2, — and  quietly,  but  perse veringly, 

a  In  precisely  the  same  vein,  and       the    Rev .   G.    C.    Renouard   in   a 
with  some  badinage,  he   addresses       letter   dated   "Brunswick   Square, 


102  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

writing  on  till  you  come  to  the  end  of  your  letter.  So 
have  I  not  done  on  the  present  occasion.  This  letter  is 
destined  therefore  to  be  a  dull  one — the  next,  I  faithfully 
promise,  shall  be  as  happily  written  as  if  it  had  pro- 
ceeded from  a  native  of  Arabia  Felix. 

Let  me  see.  Perhaps  I  had  better  begin  by  telling  you 
what  I  know  about  the  late  scandalous  proceedings  with 
regard  to  the  Exchequer  Documents.  The  newspaper 
and  '  Gentleman*  Magazine '  accounts  of  the  aforesaid 
iniquities  you  doubtless  read, — and  so  I  need  not  repeat 
that  part  of  the  story  ;  but  you  may  be  interested  (I  can- 
not say  '  pleased ')  to  hear  the  accounts  of  the  importance 
of  the  documents  in  question  fully  corroborated.  On 
Thursday,  in  consequence  of  a  catalogue  I  received  from 
Sotheby,  I  went  to  see  a  small  portion  of  the  paper 
documents  which  one  of  the  persons,  into  whose  hands 
these  treasures  have  fallen,  had  entrusted  him  with  the 
sale  of.  Very  curious  indeed  they  were  !  and  I  am  glad 
to  be  able  to  add  that  half-a-dozen  of  the  most  interesting 
lots  are  lying  before  me  at  the  present  moment,  including 
Secretary  Davison's  account  of  expenses,  connected  with 
his  mission  to  the  Low  Countries  in  1577. 

"  These  autographs  belonged,  as  I  discovered,  to  a 
binder  named  Mackenzie,  living  in  Westminster,  who 
had  bought  them  as  waste  paper.  You  will  not  be  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  in  the  evening  I  ran  as  far  as  that 
worthy's  house,  and  asked  him  a  few  questions.  The 
whole  of  his  paper  documents  he  said  were  at  Sotheby's ; 
but  his  house  was  full  of  parchments,  which  he  had 
bought  at  the  rate  of  yd.  per  lb.,  and  which  he  would  sell 

29  Dec.,  1839.     Consider,  my  dear  on    which    it    was     traced.      The 

Sir,  how  profitable  to  wanderers  in  peasant,  mounted  on  his  ass,  would 

strange  lands  might    not    the  ex-  bethink  himself  that  he  had  asses' 

tempore  practice  here  recommended  skin  at  hand ;    and   the   barks   of 

prove !     The  hunter  mounted  on  his  trees,  if  not  for  albums,  would  make 

elephant  would  avail  himself  of  the  capital  nigrums   for  the  world   at 

tusk   of  the   animal,   and  write  a  large.     To  descend  from  this  folly, 

letter  to  his  absent  friend,  as  un-  and  end   the   sentence  rationally," 

sophisticated  as  the  ivory   tablets  &c.,  &c. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  103 

me  for  is.  6d.  I  offered  him  20  or  30  or  40  times  that 
sum,  if  he  would  allow  me  to  pick  out  a  few  pounds,  but 
no  multiple  of  is.  6d.  would  induce  him  to  accede  to  the 
proposition.  It  was  very  tempting, — there  were  the  bags 
— half-a-dozen  of  them — two  or  three  untouched, — worth 
from  6d.  to  i*.  to  the  makers  of  papier  mdche, — and  what 
might  they  not  contain  1  The  following  considerations 
made  me  resolve  to  refuse  the  entire  collection.  It  would 
have  cost  £120;  I  examined  one  untouched  bag  to  the 
depth  of  a  foot  or  two,  and  it  contained,  LITERALLY,  rub- 
bish :  dusty,  dirty  fragments,  about  an  inch  or  two  square  ; 
and  lastly,  however  agreeable  it  may  be  to  possess  a  few 
choice  specimens  of  parchment  documents,  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  turn  parclmn-nt  deali-r.  Per  contra,  I  must  in- 
form you  that  the  proprietor  of  these  documents  had 
selected,  out  of  a  single  bag,  as  he  said,  a  dozen  or  two  of 
documents  which  he  showed  me,  and  they  were  curious — 
very.  One  was  a  list  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  gentleman- 
pensioners,  with  their  salaries,  and  so  on.  I  wonder 
what  you  would  have  done,  if  you  had  been  there !  .  .  .  . 
I  mean  still  to  watch  over  the  documents  in  question. — 
But  how  disgraceful  is  the  entire  proceeding !  Bulls  of 
Popes,  books  of  royal  payments  and  receipts  (including 
some  extraordinary  entries),  expenses  of  our  army  and  navy 
— every  thing  in  short  appertaining  to  finance  from  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII  down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century !  The  entire  collection  produced  j^yo !  and  ^400 
was  disbursed  in  order  to  ensure  the  mutilation  of  the 
documents,  which  the  nation  is  now  anxious  to  recover 
at  a  vast  expense,  and  to  repair  ! ! ! — Rodd  says  he 
would  cheerfully  have  given  j£J6ooo  or  7000  for  what 
the  fishmonger  bought  for  ^70.  Thinking  about  these 
things  interferes  with  my  sleep,  and  makes  me  quite 
unhappy.  . . . 

"  My  dear  Sir — oh,  by  the  by !  I  was  going  to  tell  you 
that  I  have  lately  had  a  delightful  letter  from  Lepsiua, 
and  I  must  not  conclude  till  I  have  told  you  something 
more  about  it.  Do  you  remember  that  Herodotus  men- 
tions a  figure  of  Sesostris  cut  on  the  live  rock  on  the 
road  between  Sardis  and  Smyrna,  with  an  inscription  in 


iO4  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

hieroglyphics,  &c.  ?  Well,  Renouard  told  my  father  at 
Smyrna  that  he  had  seen  such  a  figure,  and  my  father 
told  Renouard  that  Herodotus  had  described  it — but 
there  the  matter  ended.  One  day  at  table  the  matter 
was  talked  over  (last  year)  in  Lepsius's  presence.  What 
does  Master  Leppy  do  but  get  Baron  Humboldt  to  write 
to  the  ambassador  at  Smyrna,  to  obtain,  if  possible,  for 
love  or  money,  a  copy  of  the  figure1?  The  inquiry,  hope- 
less as  it  seemed,  proved  successful !  and  the  intelligent 
creature  has  written  a  learned  paper  on  the  subject, 
proving  that  Herodotus  was  perfectly  accurate  in  his 
description,  and  points  out  sundry  important  infer- 
ences derivable  from  the  examination  of  the  monument ! 
....  He  starts  soon  for  Egypt,  and  will  (if  he  lives)  do 
wonders  He  says  that  he  found  great  scepticism  on  the 
subject  of  hieroglyphic  literature  among  the  literati  of 
Germany,  but  that  he  had  an  opportunity  of  lecturing 
before  the  Academy  of  Berlin  in  pleno,  and  adds  trium- 
phantly, '  J  espere  d'avoir  de'chire'  le  grand  voile  d'incre'- 
dulite'  mystique,  ou  de  scepticisme  ignorant,  de  maniere 
que  le  trou  ne  saurait  plus  etre  raccommode'  par  ces 
Messieurs ! '  .  .  .  Leemans  also  writes  me  a  long  and 
agreeable  letter.  He  is  going  to  be  married  in  June, 
and  of  course  is  half  distracted  in  consequence." 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"Brunswick  Square,  June  29,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Sir,— 

"  Charles  Fellows  is  on  his  way  home  from  Asia 
Minor,  and  in  about  a  month  more  may  be  expected  in 
London.  He  has  completely  failed  in  his  endeavours  to 
bring  away  marbles,  &c.,  from  Lycia,  but  that  was  the 
fault  of  this  blundering,  bungling  Government  of  ours. 
Some  new  towns,  however,  he  has  discovered,  and  his 
portfolio  is  full  of  sketches,  copies  of  inscriptions,  and 
antiquarian  novelties.  Another  '  Journal '  will  be  upon 
the  stocks  in  the  course  of  the  Autumn.  John  Murray 
already  pncks  up  his  ears  quite  vertically  in  anticipa- 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  105 

"  Talking  of  such  matters.  I  will  repeat  to  you  a  Royal 
I. fit  mot.  A  gentleman  on  whom  I  called  the  other  day 
told  me  that,  in  the  course  of  an  interview  he  had  had 
with  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  Allen  the  quaker  waited  upon 
his  Royal  Highness,  in  order  to  remind  him  of  his  pro- 
mise to  present  a  petition  against  capital  punishment. 
The  Duke  did  not  seem  quite  to  like  the  job.  and 
observed  that  Scripture  has  declared.  '  Whoso  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed.'  '  Please 
your  Royal  Highness.'  replied  the  quaker,  '  when  Cain 
killed  Abel,  he  was  not  hung  for  it.'  '  That 's  true.' 
rejoined  the  Duke.  '  but  remember,  Allen,  there  were  not 
twelve  men  in  the  world  then,  to  make  a  jury.'  'This 
was  not  bad  for  a  Royal  Duke,'  said  my  friend ;  but  I 
think  it  good  to  come  from  anybody. 

"  To-day  I  saw  such  a  charming  Hogarth !  Painted 
on  a  bit  of  deal.  It  was  a  pannel  in  a  house,  which  a 
person  I  was  calling  upon,  lately  bought  of  a  nephew  (I 
think)  of  the  painter.  When  you  are  next  in  town,  I 
must  show  it  you.  It  belongs  to  a  neighbour  of  ours. 
How  delightful  such  rencontres  are  in  the  dull  journey  of 
life  !  I  have  been  thinking  all  day  of  that  picture,  and 
all  day  has  the  remembrance  of  it  filled  me  with  plea- 
sure. It  is  a  scene  from  Hudibras,  and  is  done  with 
black  and  yellow  paint  alone 

"  Your  obliged  and  affectionate, 

"JOHN    W.   BURJON." 


To  MB.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Brunswick  Square,  10  Aug.,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Sir,— 

"  Talking  of  pictures. — I  passed  two  or  three  hours  at 
Hampton  Court  last  Saturday  very  delightfully.  With 
the  gallery  you  are  doubtless  well  acquainted,  if  it  is 
possible  ever  to  become  well  acquainted  with  so  multi- 
tudinous a  collection.  The  trash  is  immense ; — but  a 


io6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

man  must  be  a  perfect  brute,  who  could  carry  away  with 
him  such  *  predominant  impression.  Surely  there  never 
was  a  gallery  better  calculated  to  charm  a  student, — 
whether  History,  Biography,  or  Manners  be  his  favourite 
pursuit.  The  portraits  of  our  ambassadors  and  other 
worthies  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  for  the  previous  and 
succeeding  half-centuries,  are  well  worth  a  pilgrimage  to 
Hampton.  Holbein  is  altogether  charming,  and  so  is 
Kneller — or  Lely,  I  forget  which.  I  will  dismiss  this 
subject  by  telling  you  a  charming  little  circumstance, 
Do  you  remember  Sir  Henry  Wotton's  will?  If  you 
do  not,  pray  reach  down  "Walton's  Lives  and  read  it. 
He  leaves  to  his  beloved  master  (Charles  I)  four  portraits 
of  Doges  of  Venice  who  were  Doges  in  his  time, — their 
names  being  inscribed  behind  each  : — also  a  Table  (as  he 
calls  it)  of  the  Senate  House  of  Venice,  in  which  he  is 
represented  having  an  audience  with  Carlo  Donato,  the 
Doge.  All  these  pictures,  he  says,  are  by  Fialetto,  and 
he  begs  the  king  to  accommodate  them  in  some  corner 
of  one  of  his  houses.  Well,  sure  enough,  there  these 
pictures  all  are  !  ...  You  can't  think  how  delighted 
I  was  to  see  them,  and  to  think  of  dear  old  Wotton's 
eyes  having  so  often  reposed  on  these  identical  por- 
traits. Now  don't  you  think  this  a  charming  circum- 
stance? It  is  the  pleasantest  event  I  have  known  for 
some  weeks 

"  This  evening,  while  I  was  at  dinner,  I  recognised  a 
voice  in  the  Hall,  and  sure  enough  it  was  he — Charles 
Fellows!  He  had  been  only  three  hours  in  London. 
So  the  very  dust  of  Asia  Minor  was  yet  hanging  about 
him. — He  has  discovered  ten  ancient  cities  in  Lycia  ! ! ! 
An  artist  who  accompanied  him  has  made  heaps  of 
drawings,  while  he  busied  himself  with  copying  Inscrip- 
tions ;  so  we  are  in  a  fair  way  of  another  big  book. 
Murray  has  already  blown  a  flourish  of  trumpets  in  the 
'AthetuKum:  Fellows  is  looking  sunburnt  and  lean,  but 
he  is  extremely  hearty ;  nor  has  he  had  half-an-hour's 
illness  from  the  day  he  left  England.  He  has  been 
absent  ten  months." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  107 

To  ME.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Br.  Square,  12  Aug.,  1840. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — 

"  That  Mrs.  -  "  [a  member  of  Mr.  Turner's  family] 
"  has  been  in  trouble,  I  am  very  sorry.  .  .  .  She  is  one  of 
the  best  and  sweetest  persons  I  ever  saw.  .  .  .  What 
excellent  creatures  women  are  !  and  from  the  hour  we 
come  into  the  world,  until  the  end  of  the  chapter,  how 
much  trouble  we  give  them  ! " 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Brunswick  Square,  Jan.  19,  1841. 

"  My  dear  Sir,— 

"  As  regards  '  the  Granger  Society  3  ',  I  altogether  disap- 
prove of  its  design.  We  don't  want  prints  of  the  Earl  of 
Stratford,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Charles  I,  &c.,  &c.  I  could 
fill  a  page  on  this  subject ; — but  the  upshot  of  it  all 
would  be  my  humble  opinion,  that  the  only  desideratum 
is  as  follows, — namely, — spirited  outlines  of  all  the  un- 
kiKin-n  curious  family  portraits  which  are  stowed  away 
in  the  galleries — yea  the  attics — of  our  noble-  and  gentle- 
men. Four  of  these  or  more,  issued  every  month,  would 
at  last  constitute  indeed  a  curious  work.  E.g.  the 
father  and  mother  of  Sir  T.  More  at  Weston  Hall  in 
Suffolk — unknown  portraits,  both  of  them;  the  Lucy 
family  at  Charlecote ;  in  short  the  innumerable  portraits 
of  the  great  rjreat  and  the  little  great — men  of  former  days, 
— with  which  England  teems." 


3  So  called   (probably)  from  the  '  Biographical  History  of  England 

Rev.    James    Granger,     Vicar     of  from    Egbert     the    G/reat    to    the 

Shiplake  in  Oxfordshire,  [6.  1716,  d.  Serolution'    is   illustrated    by   en- 

1776],    an     eminent     biographical  graved    portraits    of    the     persona 

writer  and  portrait  collector.     His  whose  lives  he  narrates. 


io8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


III.    To  THE  REV.  G.  C.  RENOUARD. 

"  1 1,  Brunswick  Square,  12  March,  1838. 
"  My  dear  Reverend  Friend, — 

t;  My  time  is  so  exceedingly  engrossed  that  I  must 
write  but  a  short  letter,  and  the  object  of  it  is,  to  enquire 
whether  you  can  tell  me,  or  can  put  me  in  the  way  of 
being  told,  when  oranges  were  first  introduced  into  Eng- 
land,— the  longum  and  the  brevum  (sic  in  the  sermon  of  a 
dissenter,  texte  H.  J.  Rose], — the  longum  and  the  brevum 
of  the  matter  is,  I  am  having  a  splendid  portrait  of 
Gresham  by  Sir  Antonio  More4,  engraved  for  a  frontis- 
piece, and  I  want  to  know  why  he  is  represented  (like 
one  of  the  Miss  Flamboroughs)  with  an  orange  in  his 
hand. — Here  are  a  few  facts, — but  1  need  not  say  they 
must  not  influence  you. 

"  I  think  the  picture  may  have  been  painted  about  the 
year  1556 — that  is  to  say,  the  middle  of  Mary's  reign. 
In  the  middle  of  Mary's  reign  Gresham  went  into  Spain  ; 
in  the  State  Paper  Office  I  find  one  of  his  letters  dated 
from  Seville. 

"  Sir  A.  More  was  a  friend  of  Gresham's, — painted  him 
three  times, — and  lived  at  Antwerp,  where  Gresham's 
commercial  celebrity  was  rife." 

Before  the  publication  of  his  work,  Burgon  had  probed 
to  the  depth  the  question,  on  which  he  here  seeks  light 
from  Mr.  Renouard.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  (whom  prob- 
ably Mr.  Dawson  Turner  had  succeeded  in  interesting 
in  the  subject)  had  informed  him  that  the  supposed 
orange  in  Gresham's  hand  was  really  a  pomander,  that  is, 
only  an  orange  externally,  the  skin  of  an  orange  "  stuffed 

Sir  Antonio  More  (Moro)  was  Mary  her  painter,    and   after   her 

born  at  Utrecht  in  1525  and  died  at  death    in    1558,   passed    into    the 

Antwerp  in  1581.     When  in  Eng-  service   of  her  husband  Philip    II 

land  he  was  appointed  by  Queen  of  Spain,  who  took  him  to  Madrid. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  109 

with  cloves  and  other  spices,"  and  carried  about  like  a 
vinaigrette  "  as  a  fashionable  preservative  against  in- 
fection." In  Note  xix  of  the  Appendix  to  Gresham's 
Life,  Wolsey  is  described  (from  a  passage  in  Cavendish's 
Life  of  him)  as  carrying  one  of  these  pomanders, — "a 
very  fair  orange,  whereof  the  meat  or  substance  within 
was  taken  out,  and  filled  up  again  with  the  part  of  a 
sponge,  wherein  was  vinegar,  and  other  confections 
against  the  pestilent  airs ;  the  which  he  most  commonly 
smelt  unto,  passing  among  the  press,  or  else  when  he  was 
pestered  with  many  suitors."  The  passage  of  '  The  Vicar 
of  If  (ikrji <'!<!.'  at  which  Burgon  glances  in  the  above  letter 
to  Mr.  Renouard,  is  worth  quoting  from  the  delicacy  of 
its  satire :  "  My  wife  and  daughters  happening  to  return 
a  visit  at  neighbour  Flamborough's,  found  that  family 
had  lately  got  their  pictures  drawn  by  a  limner ;  who 
travelled  the  country  and  took  likenesses  for  fifteen 
shillings  a  head  ....  there  were  seven  of  them,  and 
they  were  drawn  with  seven  oranges,  &c.,  &c."  Farmer 
Flamborough's  daughters  affected  gentility  and  refine- 
ment ;  and  although  the  pomander  had  gone  out  of  use 
in  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield's  time,  and,  when  met  with  in 
portraits,  it  was  mistaken  for  an  orange,  its  associa- 
tions with  persons  of  the  higher  class  clung  to  it  still ; 
Mrs.  Flamborough  meant  it  to  indicate  that  her 
daughters  were  ladies,  and  moved  in  good  society. — The 
pomander,  or  perfume  ball,  was  one  of  the  articles  com- 
posing the  stock  in  trade  of  a  huckster,  or  travelling 
salesman,  in  Shakspere's  time.  "  I  have  sold  all  my 
trumpery,"  says  the  rogue  Autolycus  in  '  Winter '*  Tale  ; ' 
"  not  a  counterfeit  stone,  not  a  riband,  glass,  pomander, 
brooch,  table-book,  ballad,  knife,  tape,  glove,  shoe-tie, 
bracelet,  horn-ring,  to  keep  my  pack  from  fasting  "  [Act 
IV.  Scene  iii.].  Burgon's  note  referred  to  above  is 


no  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

thoroughly  exhaustive  of  the  subject,  and  is  one  of  many 
incidental  indications  of  the  thoroughness  with  which  he 
executed  Gresham's  Biography  (as  indeed  everything 
else  which  he  set  his  hands  to),  and  the  deep  research 
which  he  brought  to  bear  even  on  the  minutest  points. 

To  THE  REV.  G.  C.  RENOUAKD. 

"  j  i  Brunswick  Square,  July  7, 1839. 

"  My  deai*  Friend, — 

"Truly  rejoiced  am  I  to  say  that  the  penultimate  sheet 
of  either  of  my  volumes  ['  The  Life  and  Times  of  Ores/Mm '] 
is  now  in  my  hands, . .  .  and  when  I  tell  you  that  the 
first  figure  upon  each  is  a  5,  you  will  not  be  surprised 
to  hear  me  add  that  I  begin  to  be  heartily  tired  of  the 
responsibilities  of  great  and  small  pica  ;  and  would  not 
on  any  consideration  that  mine  hero  should  have  lived 
ten  years  longer.  .  .  .  No — he  is  dead,  his  funeral 
oration  has  been  recited ;  and  I  have  parted  with  him 
for  ever.  .  .  .  Two  volumes  of  500  pages  each — with 
copper  plates,  woodcuts,  and  other  illustrations  —  to 
say  nothing  of  appendix,  table  of  contents,  and  index — 
is,  take  it  altogether,  a  kind  of  thing  which  I  shall 
not  be  easily  induced  to  undertake  de  novo  for  any 
knight,  baronet,  lord,  viscount,  earl,  marquis,  or  duke, 
in  the  peerage.  .  .  .  Gresham  may  think  himself  lucky 
to  have  been  the  subject  of  a  young  author's  opus  mag- 
nnm.  ...  I  take  it  that  an  older  cock  would  have  known 
better,  than  to  do  such  lusty  battle  on  such  slight  provo- 
cation.— Let  me  see — I  should  hope  by  the  middle  of  the 
month  to  have  done  all  that  I  can  do  towards  shoving 
the  old  knight  off  the  stocks  ; — say  a  week  or  ten  days 
binding,  &c.,  and  getting  in  order  for  the  discerning 
public — and  so  perhaps  by  the  first  week  in  August, 
some  evening,  when  you  shall  be  at  tea  here  (or,  better 
still,  at  dinner),  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  presenting 
you  with  the  first  copy  I  give  away.  Do  you  remember 
your  kindness  to  me  'lang  syne'  in  this  matter?  / 
shall  never  forget  it,  and  mean  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  the  same  in  my  preface." 


THE  EARLY  LIFE.  1 1 1 

To  THE  REV.  G.  C.  REXOUARD. 

"Brunswick  Square,  April  20,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Renouard. — 

"  Here  followeth  the  etymology  of  riff-raff, 

ereev-rav 

the  Hebrew  for  '  a  mixed  multitude,'  the  word  used  in 
the  Exodus,  taste  Dr.  McCaul  5." 

To  THE  REV.  G.  C.  RENOUARD. 

"  City,  10  June,  1840. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Renouard, — If  a  man  were  to  come  and 
ask  me  what  was  written  round  the  Emperor  of  China's 
breakfast  room,  I  should  immediately  address  myself  to 
you  in  order  to  obtain  the  information.  I  am  sure  you 
would  be  able  to  tell  rne,  if  you  chose.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  whole  range  of  philology,  from  the  unknown 
tongue  downwards,  which  is  not  as  familiarly  known  to 
you  as  your  own  vernacular.  Mr.  Thorpe  has  just  this 
instant  put  a  question  at  my  father,  which  we  must  refer 
to  you,  ere  we  can  answer.  Pray  tell  us  in  what  book 
an  engraving  and  account  is  to  be  found  of  the  inscrip- 
tions on  the  obelisk  at  Constantinople.  Have  they  ever 
been  engraved,  or  otherwise  published,  and  how,  and 
when,  and  where — and  by  whom  ? 

"  I  should  think  it  necessary  to  apologize  to  any  one  but 
yourself,  dear  Mr.  Renouard,  for  coming  with  such  a 
categorical  category  of  questions  ;  but  I  know  you  will 
dismiss  the  inquiry  with  the  same  readiness  as  I  should 
dismiss  a  troublesome  fly  who  should  settle  on  my  nose 
on  a  hot  summer's  day. 

"  Ever,  my  dear  friend, 

"  Yours  affectionately, 

"  JOHN  W.  BURQON." 

3  This  derivation  of  nff-raff  from  Old  French  words  '  rif  etraf,'  mean- 
tin'  Hebrew  :n  3"i?  ('ay-rev  rav)  is  ing  "every  bit," — "II  ne  lui  lairra 
highly  ingenious,  and  if  Dr.  McCaul  rif  ny  raf"  "  He  will  not  leave  him 
were,  as  very  probably  he  was,  a  single  morsel,  however  trifling," — 
skilled  in  etymology,  is  worthy  of  to  use  Abram's  phrase  (Gen.  xiv.  23), 
consideration.  Skeat,  however,  in  "  from  a  thread  to  a  shoe-latchet." 
his  '  Etymological  Dictionary  of  (he  And  he  pronounces  both  rif  and 
Language  '  [*.  r.],  cites  the  raf  to  be  of  Teutonic  origin. 


1 1 2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

To  THE  REV.  G.  C.  RENOUARD. 

"Brunswick  Square,  14  August,  1841. 

"  My  kind  Mr.  Renouard, — Yesterday  evening,  while  I 
was  at  dinner,  a  parcel  was  put  into  my  hands  inscribed 
*  J.  W.  B.,  Esq.,  from  Rev.  G.  C.  Renouard.'  My  first 
impulse  was  to  exclaim.  '  This  is  a  mistake.'  but  when  I 
had  turned  the  pages  over,  and  came  at  last  to  a  Har- 
monic bretis,  my  '  prophetic  soul '  made  me  sensible  that 
it  was  no  mistake  at  all,  but  just  one  proof  more  of 
that  watchful,  friendly  care,  which  from  the  earliest 
time  I  can  remember,  you  have  unceasingly  displayed 
towards  me. 

"You  will  not  require  to  be  assured,  my  dear  Mr. 
Renouard,  that  I  feel  much  touched  by  this  mark  of 
your  friendship,  not  only  a*  a  mark  of  friendship,  but 
indeed  as  a  most  salutary  help,  which  has  appeared  pre- 
cisely at  the  time  when  it  was  needed  most.  Till  I  have 
completed  my  own  task,  I  do  not  propose  to  consult  the 
oracle  ;  but  the  moment  I  have  brought  my  own  crude 
imaginings  to  the  sticking  place  (i.  e.  before  I  begin  to  use 
the  paste  pot 6)  I  shall  diligently  examine  the  Harmony 
with  which  you  have  supplied  me.  and  so  obtain  a  solu- 
tion of  all  my  difficulties.  I  feel  as  if  it  were  you  who 
helped  me.  Although  so  distant,  it  seems  as  if  you  had 
made  a  long  arm,  as  the  phrase  is — or  rather  as  if  you 
were  at  your  pupil's  side. — Once  more  accept  my  best 
thanks.  The  excellent  binding,  and  the  extreme  merit  of 
the  copy,  does  not  escape  me.  I  am  very  grateful  for 
everything. 

"  Your  obliged  and  affectionate, 

"  and  most  faithful  servant, 
"  JOHN  W.  BUBGON. 

•  HU   Harmony    was    made   by  Gospels  in  the  order  in  which  he 

cutting  to  pieces  a  printed  copy  of  tl. ought     they     ought     to     stand, 

the    Authorised     Version     of    the  Abundant  room  is  left  for  annota- 

Goc pels,  and  pasting  in  to  a  large  tions  in  the  margin  of  the  paper,  or 

manuscript  book  of  scribbling  paper  on  the  leaf  opposite  to  the  Harmony, 

the  various  excerpts  from  the  different  which  is  generally  left  blank. 


THE  EARLY  LIFE. 


1 1 


"  I  suppose  you  know  that  wa**  is  no  corruption  of 
eat,  but  a  good  Teutonic  word,  represented  in  our 
language  by  '  Mess ' 7 ;  also  that  I.  H.  S.  does  not  mean 
liniiuini.ru  Salvator,  nor  ever  did  mean,  but  that  it  is 
the  monogram  of  'I7j<roi5y,  and  nothing  else. 

"  Pardon  this  little  P.  S.  If  I  am  ever  troublesome  with 
my  etymological  ana,  remember,  dear  Mr.  Renouard,  that 
it  is  all  your  fault  for  giving  me  such  a  taste  that  way, 
or  at  all  events,  for  fostering  it." 


7  This  etymology  also  is  very 
doubtful ;  and  it  would  be  safer  to 
adopt  the  usual  one,  that  the  word 
•  M  ;-.->"  is  derived  from  the  words 
"Ite  mitsa  est  "  said  by  the  Priest 
in  dismissing  the  Catechumens  or 
Non-Communicants,  when  the  Mass 
(or  Communion  Service  proper)  was 
about  to  commence.  At  all  events, 
even  if  J.  W.  B.'s  connexion  of  mass 
with  "mess  "  be  accepted,  "  mess  " 
is  not  a  Teutonic  but  a  Latin  Word, 
coming  from  the  verb  mitto,  which 
has  among  its  meanings  "to  place 


upon  the  table,"  "  serve  up."  Hence 
a  "  mess  "  means  a  dish,  something 
served  up  in  a  dish.  The  Italian  word 
"  messo  "  means  "  a  course  at  table." 
Mr.  Renouard  was  strong  in 
philology  and  etymology ;  and 
Burgon  amused  himself  with  throw- 
ing out  etymologies  for  him  to  rise 
at,  like  a  fish  at  a  fly.  One  would 
be  interested  to  know  what  he  said 
to  these  etymologies  suggested  by 
his  young  friend ;  but  the  letters 
containing  his  observations  on  them 
have  not  been  preserved. 


VOL.    [. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    OXFORD    LIFE:    FIRST  PERIOD. 

From  his  Matriculation  [Oct.  21, 1841]  to  his  Admission 
into  the  Order  of  Deacons  [Dec.  24, 1848]. 

».  1841.  THE  middle  of  October,  1841,  found  John  William 
^-  28.]  5urg0n  at  the  place  where  he  was  destined  to  spend  so 
large  a  portion  of  his  time,  and  where  his  brother-in-law, 
the  Rev.  Henry  John  Rose,  always  acted  towards  him  so 
brotherly  a  part — the  "moated  parsonage"  house  of 
Houghton  Conquest  in  Bedfordshire, — the  charms  of 
which  and  of  the  surrounding  country  he  has  himself 
described  so  picturesquely  in  his  '  Lives  of  Twelve  Good 
Men'  "  The  scenery  round  about  his"  [Mr.  Rose's]  "se- 
cluded Rectory  was  of  that  sweet  domestic  character 
which,  without  ever  aspiring  to  the  praise  of  being 
actually  beautiful,  yet  in  effect  always  pleases, — never 
tires8." — He  went  there  Oct.  16,  1841,  and  on  Tuesday, 
Oct.  19,  we  find  this  entry  in  his  Journal:  "Having 
asked  a  blessing  on  our  errand,  Rose  and  I  started  per 
Fletcher's  coach  for  Oxford.  Reached  there  in  the  even- 
ing." What  followed  shall  be  given  in  the  language  of 
four  very  interesting  letters  written  to  his  sisters  9  (then 

8  '  Lives  of  Twelve  Good  Men ; '  (2)   To  Miss  H.  E.  BUEGON  .... 

HENKT   JOHN  KOBE.     Vol.   i.   p.  Oct.  28,  1841. 

288.  (3)    To  Miss  BURGON  ....  Oct. 

'  (i)  To  MissBuBGON.    Kev.  H.  29,1841. 

J.  Kose,  HoughtoQ  Conquest,  Oct.  (4)    To  Miss  H.  E.  BUEGON  .... 

37,  1841.  Oct.  30,  1841. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  FIRST  PERIOD.       1 1 5 

staying  at  Houghton)  after  his   return  to  London   on 
Friday,  Oct.  22. 

"We  passed  Hartwell.  and  through  Aylesbury,  and 
Thame  (whence  the  Thames  takes  its  name, — a  curious 
town  full  of  ancient-looking  houses)  and  so  on  to  Oxford 
— over  Forest  Hill,  where  the  first  Mrs.  Milton  lived : 
and  here  Fletcher  the  coachman  treated  us  to  a  charming 
Malaprop-,  for  he  declared  that  there  was  a  tree  still 
existing  under  which  Milton  wrote  '  Pilgrims  Progress! 
What  struck  him  most,  however,  was  the  difficulty 
Milton  must  have  found  in  travelling  from  Cambridge 
to  Oxford  before  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  coach  was 
started." 

They  put  up  at  ':  the  Angel,"  where  they  are  located 
in  two  bed-rooms,  called  respectively  '  Jubilee "  and 
"  Hertford "  ;  and  there  in  the  evening,  "  Dear  Rose 
wrote  a  letter  to  Dr.  Pusey,  announcing  the  arrival  of 
the  bear  and  his  keeper"  (the  jocose  names,  which  the 
family  had  given  to  himself  and  Mr.  Rose),  "  and  we 
then  went  to  bed."  The  next  day  they  attend  service  at 
St.  Peter's  Church  (then  under  the  incumbency  of  the 
Rev.  Walter  Kerr  Hamilton,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury), the  architectural  beauties  of  which,  its  parvis,  its 
preaching-book  (ruled  with  orderly  columns  for  all  sorts 
of  statistics),  and  its  crypt,  "  in  consequence  of  the  recent 
rains  about  one  foot  under  water/'  are  described  in  his 
usual  lively  manner.  Then  he  goes  into  ecstasies  to  his 
sisters  about  the  Bodleian  Library : — 

"  Such  extraordinary  pictures ! "  [in  the  Bodleian 
Gallery]  "  a  dozen  or  two  of  the  old  founders — 
with  their  wives — coats  of  arms — and  inscriptions  in 
gilt  letters — such  old  loves  \  There  is  Lord  Burghley 
on  his  little  muile l,  Columbus — all  the  old  Bishop* 

1  In  the  portrait  in  question,  on  the  white  mule,  on  which  he 
Lord  Burleigh  ia  represented  sitting  used  to  ride  down  to  Westminster. 

I  2 


ii6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

in  short  such  a  collection  as  one  would  not  know 

where  to  match  out  of  Oxford ;  nor  are  works  of  art 
altogether  wanting.  There  is  a  most  speaking  likeness 
of  Garrick,  some  fine  Gainsboroughs,  a  superlative  Sir 
Joshua.  In  short  there  is  much  to  study  and  admire,  as 
well  as  to  smile  at  and  feel  interested  in." 

After  a  visit  to  Parker's  shop,  "  a  kind  of  lounge  for 
the  young  men  who  love  books,"  and  "  the  stores  of 
which  make  one's  very  heart  flutter/'  they  returned  to 
their  Hotel,  to  await  the  great  man,  under  whose  auspices 
John  William  Burgon  was  to  matriculate  at  Oxford  as  a 
Commoner  of  Worcester  College. 

"  Dr.  Pusey  had  announced  himself  for  one  o'clock  ; 
and  soon  after  one  the  waiter  came  into  the  room  where 
we  were  sitting,  looking  like  a  dog  with  his  tail  between 
his  legs,  and  announced  Dr.  "Pusey. 

"  I  believe  you  have  seen  him :  however  he  is  much 
improved  in  appearance,  since  we  saw  him  last  at  Dods- 
worth's.  He  has  grown  plumper  (rather),  and  looks  a 
little  more  cheerful.  He  immediately  entered  on  the 
subject  of  our  visit  with  Rose,  and  very  kindly  proposed 
to  conduct  him  (and  me)  to  Worcester  College,  where  he 
said  he  would  introduce  us  to  the  Provost  of  the  College, 
having  first  distinctly  declared  it  to  be  his  opinion  that 
Worcester  College  was  the  best  I  could  go  to. 

"  We  went  towards  the  place  with  him,  and  he  talked 
to  us  as  we  went  along, — or  rather  he  talked  to  Rose.  I 
cannot  pretend  to  write  all  he  said,  first  because  it  was 
very  slight,  next  because  I  heard  him  imperfectly,  and 
lastly  because  what  he  did  say,  and  I  heard,  requires  the 
modifying  influence  of  tongue,  eye,  and  face  to  give  it  its 
due  meaning,  and  no  more.  The  general  upshot  of  what 
he  said  was  that  it  was  distressing  to  be  so  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented. 

J.  W.  R  spells  the  word  "  muile,"       it    with   which    his    sister    would 
and   marks  it    under,  probably   to       be  familiar, 
indicate  some  mode  of  pronouncing 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       1 1 7 

"  On  arriving  at  Worcester  College,  I  remained  in  the 
Quadrangle,  while  my  two  conductors  knocked  at  the 
Provost's  door.  I  was  extremely  anxious  to  see  Worcester 
College,  as  you  may  easily  suppose,  a  place  that  is  to 
become  my  Home !  and  I  was  not  disappointed.  It  is  a 
newish-looking  College,  but  pretty ;  and  within  the 
quadrangle  are  some  very  ancient  buildings.  It  is  in 
fact  the  most  recent  collegiate  foundation  in  Oxford, 
having  been  endowed  by  a  Sir  something  Cook,  in  the 
year  1 700,  or  thereabouts  ; — but  it  is  to  me  a  delightful 
circumstance  that  it  occupies  the  site  of  the  most  ancient 
establishment  for  religious  instruction  in  Oxford,  St. 
Frideswide's  Abbey  (founded  A.D.  700)  always  excepted, 
of  which  hereafter.  What  follows  is  a  slight  sketch  of 
the  front  of  the  College,  from  memory "  [here  follows  a 
very  rapidly  executed  pencil  sketch],  "  This  is  the 
front.  When  you  have  got  through  the  door,  you 
see  somewhat  thus"  [another  hasty  sketch].  "I  had 
scarcely  lost  sight  of  Mr.  Rose  and  Dr.  Pusey,  when 
they  re-appeared,  and  they  told  me  that  the  Provost  had 
gone  out  for  a  ride.  It  was  accordingly  settled  that 
the  visit  must  be  deferred  till  to-morrow.  Dr.  Pusey 
walked  homewards,  and  we  insensibly  followed  in  the 
direction  of  Christ  Church  (of  which  he  is  a  Canon) ;  and 
in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  stood  at  his  door, — the 
right  hand  corner  of  a  magnificent  quadrangle,  the  largest 
in  Oxford,  built  by  Cardinal  Wolsey  with  truly  royal 
magnificence.  He  desired  us  to  walk  in,  which  we  gladly 
did ;  and  he  led  the  way  into  a  cheerful  library,  in  sad 
but  sacred  confusion.  The  legs  of  the  wooden  chair  on 
which  he  was  sitting  were  altogether  blocked  up  by  the 
works  of  Irena3us  and  St.  Basil.  Over  his  mantel-piece 
were  three  German  prints,  thus  ;  "  [rough  pencil  sketches 
of  two  of  them]  "  St.  John  the  Baptist ;  our  Saviour's 
Passion ;  and  the  third  was  an  interesting  representation 
of  St.  John's  preaching,  I  suppose.  Before  him  were  the 
portraits  of  his  two  poor  sickly  children,  and  I  think 
elsewhere  in  his  room  (or  else  it  was  at  Mr.  Newman's), 
Vandyke's  treble  portrait  of  Charles  I.  His  books  were 
mostly  on  Divinity, — all  learned.  He  said  with  a  smile 


1 1 8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

that,  his  Fathers  were  in  the  next  room,  mostly.  Rose 
talked  to  him  about  Neander2,  of  whom  Dr.  P.  gave  us 
a  very  interesting  account ;  but  I  leave  dear  Rose  to  tell 
you  what  he  said  about  Bickersteth,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  We 
took  leave  of  Dr.  Pusey  in  the  course  of  about  half  an 
hour.  In  the  meantime  he  had  kindly  repeated  his  offer 
of  supplying  me  with  half  a  sitting-room  in  his  house 
till  accommodation  can  be  provided  for  me  in  College 
(which  is  extremely  kind  and  condescending,  though  I 
fear  it  will  not  suit);  and  he  said  he  would  write  to 
Dr.  Cotton,  his  brother-in-law,  to  make  an  appointment 
for  us  for  the  morrow.  And  so  we  took  our  leave  of 
him." 

After  their  dinner  at  the  Hotel  that  evening  ("  tough 
beefsteaks,  and  potatoes  like  bullets,  whereof  the  horrible 
memory  haunts  me  yet"), — 

"there  came  a  note  from  the  Provost  of  Worcester 
College,  bidding  us  call  upon  him  at  nine  next  morn- 
ing  Next  morning  accordingly  we  got  up  like 

good  boys,  brake  our  fast  betimes,  and  then  got  under 
way  for  Worcester  College.  Dr.  Cotton  in  his  note 
had  recommended  that  I  should  be  examined  at  once, 
and  Dr.  Pusey  seconded  the  motion,  much  to  my 
alann  and  disgust.  However,  we  resolved,  if  Dr.  Cotton 
should  repeat  the  invitation  to  be  examined,  that  I 
should  immediately  do  the  needful;  and  accordingly,  I 
had  scarcely  lost  sight  of  Mr.  Rose  (who  went  into  the 

*  Mr.  Rose,  who  was  an  accom-  man  came  in  and  purchased  the  new 

plished  German  scholar,  had  trans-  volume,  just  as  the  brothers-in-law 

lated    'Neander's   History    of    the  were  leaving  the  shop ;  whereupon 

Christian    Religion     and    Church  Mr.  Newman  indicated  a  desire  to 

during   the  fir»t    three  centuries'  know  Mr.  Rose,  which  led  to  the 

The  second  volume  of  this  transla-  visit  to  his  rooms  described  in  the 

tion   had  just   appeared,    the  first  sequel. — Neander,  a  Jew  by  birth, 

having  made  its  appearance  in  1831,  but  a  Christian  by  deep  conviction 

ten     years     earlier.     The     second  and  by  Baptism,  was  born  at  Gottin- 

volume    was   lying   upon   Parker's  gen,  Jan.  17,  1789,  and  died  of  the 

counter,    when    Burgon    and    Mr.  cholera,  July  14,  1850. 
Rose  were  in  the  shop.      Mr.  New- 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  FIRST  PERIOD.       1 1 9 

Doctor's,  while  I  waited  in  the  Quadrangle)  before  he  re- 
appeared, and  introduced  me  to  Dr.  Cotton.  He  is  a 
small  man,  looking  like  an  old  little  lot/ — very  kind  and 
gentle  3  ;  and  he  assured  me  it  was  a  very  small  matter ; 
told  me  that  the  Tutor  who  should  examine  me,  knew 
that  I  must  be  handled  gently,  and  in  short  said  enough 
to  make  me  instantly  run  off'  in  quest  of  what  I  had  five 
minutes  before  been  so  nervous  about. — I  found  the 
Tutor  (a  Mr.  Muckleston  4,  I  think)  in  his  studious  little 
room,  and  told  him  what  I  had  come  for.  He  seemed  a 
little  astonished  to  hear  that  I  had  read  no  Greek  for  ten 
years,  and  that  I  knew  so  little  of  Latin.  However,  he 
bade  me  name  the  books  I  would  be  examined  in.  Tibby  " 
(the  supposed  name  of  "  the  Bear,"  as  he  called  himself,) 
'•  happened  the  night  before  to  have  had  a  little  talk 
with  his  keeper  over  a  proof-sheet  of  Herodotus,  in  which 
some  books  had  come  wrapped  up  from  Parker's.  So, 
being  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  say,  he  now  said  he 
should  like  to  be  examined  in  Herodotus  and  Cicero, 
which  was  rather  saucy ;  but  you  know  Tibby  is  a  saucy 
fellow. 

"  Well,  my  executioner  was  very  kind  about  it ;  chose 
half-a-dozen  easy  lines  of  each,  and  told  me  to  turn  a 
little  of  '  the  Spectator '  into  Latin.  So  he  gave  me  a  pen 
and  ink  and  paper,  and  said  I  must  make  haste,  for  in 

3  "  Our  Provost,  might  I  paint  Ever   the  first   in  Chapel :    at   his 

him,  was  a  man  prayers 

Of    wondrous    grave     aspect :     of  A  homily  to  inattentive  hearts : 

stature  small,  The  college  loved,  revered  him,  to 

Yet  full  of  Christian  dignity ;    so  a  man." 

full  — "  Worcester  College  "  [Poems  by 

Of  human  kindness,   that   a   child  John  William  Burgon,  B.D.,  Dean 

could  pick  of  Chichester]. 

The  lock    upon  his  heart.      Twas  *  "  Then,  would  you   know  our 

sport  to  watch,  Tutors,  each  was  great, 

When  chased  by  beggars  near  the  But   in   his    several   way.      What 

College  wall,  excellent  gifts 

(Some  mother  of  a  fabulous  brood  Were    Muckleston's  ! — (my    Tutor 

of  bairns,)  he ;  well  skilled 

How  soon  he'd  strike  his  colours  to  In  dialectic  ;  grand  in  all  the  moods 

the  foe.  From  '  Barbara'  on)." — Hid. 


120  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

half-an-hour  we  should  be  wanted  in  the  Convocation 
Room  (where  the  young  men  are  matriculated).  Of 
course  I  made  sad  hash  of  it ;  but  he  said  it  would  do 
very  well,  and  took  me  into  another  room,  where  my 
name  was  taken  down  ;  and  I  was  told  I  must  imme- 
diately provide  myself  with  a  cap  and  gown  and  a 
white  tie. 

"  A  little  juicy  tailor  was  in  attendance  with  plenty  of 
caps  and  gowns ;  and  he  lent  me  one  which,  though  it 
did  not  fit,  did  very  well  for  the  purpose.  The  white 
tie  was  a  sad  home  thrust ;  but  my  friend  who  had  been 
examining  me  undertook  to  supply  that,  which  he  kindly 
did  immediately,  and  out  I  walked, — looking,  or  at  least 
feeling,  wonderfully  awkward  and  foolish.  I  scarcely 
knew  whether  I  stood  on  my  head  or  my  heels  when  I 
entered  the  Convocation  Room,  and  found  myself  in  a 
little  mob  of  persons  with  caps  and  gowns, — maces,  and 
red  inner  garments. 

"  Here,  however,  to  my  surprise  and  pleasure,  I  met 
some  friends.  Brancker  was  the  first  to  find  me  out, 
and  very  surprised  he  was  to  see  me,  as  you  may  sup- 
pose. He  welcomed  me  very  cordially,  and  had  scarcely 
done  so,  when  Mr.  Jacobson  espied  me.  He  was  ex- 
tremely friendly.  Next,  who  should  I  see  but  Mr. 
Hensley !  He  had  just  come  to  enter  his  brother,  also  at 
Worcester  College ;  so  he  introduced  me  to  him 

4i  Well ;  there  was  a  great  deal  of  delay,  while  some 
twenty  young  B.A.'s  were  being  metamorphosed  into 
M.A.'s,  after  which  '  we  youth '  were  called  up,  one  by 
one,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Vice-Chancellor  were  re- 
quested to  sign  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles ;  that  is  to  say, 
we  signed  our  names  in  a  great  book.  My  own  interest- 
ing autograph  ran  as  follows  (I  leave  Mr.  Rose  to 
explain). 

' '  John  W.  Burgon,  Gen.  Fil.  CoU.  Vigorn.'  I  think 
that  was  all ;  but  I  felt  nervous  and  scarcely  knew  what 
I  wrote. 

"  Well ;  we  were  then  presented  each  with  a  copy  of 

Statutes  (I  should  rather  say,  extracts    from  the 

Statutes)  of  the  University,  and  desired  to  stand  round 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       121 

in  a  circle  :  when  the  first  young  man,  in  behalf  of  us  all, 
read  aloud  an  oath  which  we  took,  and  in  ratification  of 
which  wo  all  kissed  the  Bible.  This  oath  is  such  a  lort 
of  an  Oath,  that  I  cannot  resist  the  inclination  I  feel 
to  set  it  down  for  you,  though  I  rather  begrudge  the 
trouble  : 

"  '  I,  J.  W.  B.,  do  swear  that  I  do  from  my  heart  abhor, 
detest,  and  abjure  as  impious  and  heretical,  that  dam- 
nable position  and  doctrine  "  That  Prince*  excommunicated 
of  di-fniri'il  Ly  ihe  Pope,  or  any  authority  of  the  See  of  Rome, 
may  he  deposed  or  murdered  by  their  subjects,  or  any  other 
whutxoer-  . 

" '  And  I  do  declare,  that  no  foreign  Prince,  Person, 
Prelate,  State,  or  Potentate  hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any 
jurisdiction,  power,   superiority,    pre-eminence,    or   au- 
thority, ecclesiastical,  or  spiritual,  within  this  realm. 
" '  So  help  me  God,  &c.'  " 

The  Mr.  Hensley6,  whom  he  mentions  above,  became 
during  their  undergraduate  career,  and  remained  ever 
afterwards,  despite  material  differences  in  their  theo- 
logical views,  Burgon's  fastest  and  fondest  friend.  He 
has  given  most  valuable  assistance  to  the  writer  in 
drawing  up  the  narrative  of  the  early  Oxford  days  of 
his  old  friend ;  and  excerpts  from  Burgon's  letters  to 
him  will  be  presented  to  the  reader  in  the  sequel.  He 
it  is  to  whom  Burgon  paid,  ten  years  afterwards,  the 
visit  which  he  describes  so  beautifully  in  the  touching 
little  poem,  "Worcester  College"  [' Poems'  p.  86],  in 
the  course  of  which  the  two  old  College  friends  "  count 
o'er  the  names"  of  their  academical  contemporaries, — 
many  of  them  departed, 

— "many  more 

Grown  husbands,  fathers,  widowers  ;  while  of  some 
We  had  no  news,  and  wondered  how  they  fared." 

8  Now  the  Reverend  Alfred  Hensley,  Rector  of  Cotgrave,  near  Not- 
tingham. 


1 2  2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

In  the  last  extract  from  his  letters  to  his  sisters,  he 
has  been  describing  the  ceremony  of  his  admission  to 
the  University  in  a  spirit  of  badinage,  and  in  a  tone  of 
mock  solemnity ;  but  he  is  aware  that,  underlying  the 
badinage,  there  is  a  proud  consciousness  in  his  mind  of 
having  attained  at  length  to  membership  of  a  world- 
famous  corporation.  After  he  has  restored  his  Academi- 
cals to  the  "juicy  little  tailor,"  and  his  white  tie  to  the 
tutor  who  had  lent  it,  and  was,  in  point  of  costume,  him- 
self again, — 

"  I  then  went  in  search  of  the  porter  of  the  College. 
I  already  felt  six  inches  taller  since  breakfast  I  felt  as 
if  a  part  of  the  burthen  of  Oxford  had  fallen  on  my 
shoulders.  I  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  grass  plot  and 
the  College.  The  College  was  my  college  ;  the  quad- 
rangle, my  quadrangle ;  the  porter,  my  porter ;  the 
porter's  son,  my  porter's  son.  I  accordingly  sent  him 
in  quest  of  his  dad :  for  I  wanted  to  examine  my  Library, 
my  Hall,  and  my  Chapel. 

"The  Library  is  spacious,  and  well-furnished, — al- 
together a  very  superior  one.  The  Hall  is  clean  and  neat 
and  cheerful ;  but  not  at  all  (or  very  little)  Collegiate, — I 
mean,  it  is  Greek,  not  Gothic.  Ditto  of  the  Chapel. 
However,  all  three  pleased  me  much.  The  Prayers  are 
read  in  Latin  every  morning  at  \  past  7  in  winter,  and 
seven  in  summer ;  so  Tibby  must  turn  out  a  little 
earlier  than  he  has  been  accustomed." 

Mr.  Newman  having  given  Mr.  Rose  some  encourage- 
ment to  think  that  he  would  be  glad  to  receive  a  visit  from 
him  and  his  protege",  they  determine  to  pay  their  respects 
in  that  quarter,— find  the  great  man  "at  dinner  in  the 
Common  Room,"  but  were  told  that  they  might  perhaps 
see  him  later,  "  for  that  he  usually  sate  up  and  wrote 
rather  late."  After  spending  the  evening  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jacobson,  and  chatting  till  nearly  ten  o'clock,  they 
again  repair  to  Oriel  College. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       123 

••  We  found  Mr.  Newman  sitting  by  his  fireside  in  a 
comfortable  library-looking  sitting-room.  He  had  been 
writing  ;  and,  as  I  should  think,  something  which  he  felt 
anxious  about ;  for  at  every  few  words  there  occurred 
an  erasure.  He  apologized  for  the  confusion  in  which 
we  found  him ;  but  it  was  quite  superfluous,  for  every- 
thing was  in  very  tolerable  order.  I  did  not  remark  in 
his  furniture  anything  remarkable.  He  had  a  print  or 
two ;  by  the  by  it  was  he  who  had  the  portrait  of 
Charles  I ;  I  noticed  nothing  else  particularly 

"  Mr.  Newman  was  kind  enough  to  say  he 

should  hope  to  see  me  when  I  go  up  to  Oxford.  I  hope 
he  will.  I  am  sure  I  shall  covet  his  friendship  ;  but  it 
is  equally  certain  that  I  will  not  pester  him,  or  run  after 
him.  or  after  any  one  else.  Ask  Rose  to  tell  you  the 
story  of  the  New  Zealander's  breakfast,  if  he  has  not 
told  it  to  you  already,  which  I  would  lay  a  small  wager  he 
has  done.  You  can't  think  how  well  Mr.  Newman  told 
that  story !  He  talked  to  us  about  several  matters, — 
railroads,  monumental  inscriptions,  New  Zealand,  Dr. 

Pusey,  &c.,  &c.  In  his  voice,  he  is  more  like than 

any  one  else  we  know  ; — both  in  voice  and  manner,  but 
very  unlike  him  in  face.  On  such  occasions,  however, 
paying  a  first  visit,  at  an  uncouth  hour,  without  any 
particular  object,  the  conversation,  as  you  know,  is 
always  rather  tire  par  lea  c/ieveux.  We  did  not  quite  hide 
our  faces  behind  one  another  and  say, '  No,  Sir ' — '  Don't, 
Tom ' "  [here  a  rough  grotesque  sketch  of  the  attitude 
indicated]  ;  "  but  something  very  like  it." 

Next  morning,  he  sees  Mr.  Rose  off  to  Houghton 
Conquest,  and  is  late  for  the  commencement  of  the  Daily 
Service  at  St.  Mary's,  but  in  time  for  the  Lessons, 
"  which  Mr.  Newman  read  beautifully  ;  "  after  which, 

"  I  had  still  an  hour  or  two  to  pass  in  Oxford ;  so 
I  went  to  see  Brancker.  He  received  me  with  much 
kindness.  He  is  Divinity  Lecturer  at  his  College  (Wad- 
ham),  and  gave  me  much  useful  practical  advice.  He 
assured  me  that,  if  I  could  number  Dr.  Pusey,  Mr.  New- 


1 24  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

man,  and  Mr.  Jacobson,  among  my  friends,  I  should 
come  up  to  Oxford  under  the  best  auspices.  He  begged 
me  to  write  to  him,  if  I  wanted  any  further  information, 
&c.,  &c.  So  we  parted ;  and  I  took  a  stroll  round  the 
garden  of  Wadham  College,  one  of  my  favourite 

haunts 

"After  a  farewell  visit  to  Parker's,  I  glanced  once 
more  at  all  the  beloved  buildings,  and  said  in  my  heart 
to  the  towers,  spires,  and  walls  around  me,  '  Good-bye 
for  the  present,  my  dears.'  I  then  went  to  the  inn, 
wrote  a  hasty  line  to  Dawson  Turner,  and  came  home" 
[to  Brunswick  Square]  "  by  the  Great  Western  Railway, 

as  fast  as  steam  would  carry  me My  best  love 

to  all  around  you,  and  many  kisses  to  the  beardless  of 
the  beloved  circle." 

In  what  remains  of  this  Period  we  shall  leave  John 

William  Burgon,  through  the  medium  of  his  letters,  to 

speak  for  himself.     Certain  facts,  however,  need  to  be 

stated,  by  way  of  explaining  those  letters.     On  March 

1842.  10,  A.D.  1842,  his  work  being  now  at  an  end  in  London, 

'J  he  bade  adieu  to  Brunswick  Square,  after  drawing  the 

rooms  in  which  he  and  his  family  had  lived  so  long 

and  happily. 

"At  I2£  left  home!!!!  !,"  says  the  Journal;  "Rose 
and  I  reached  Houghton  at  7.  I  this  day  entered  on  a 
new  life.  May  God  bless  it !  It  was  a  sad  parting." 

(His  mother  and  sisters  did  not  leave  the  old  home  till 
June  2,— more  than  two  and  a  half  months  afterwards.) 
Thenceforth  his  time  was  divided  between  Oxford  during 
the  terms,  and  Houghton  Conquest  during  the  vacations, 
where  he  devoted  himself  unintermittingly  under  Mr. 
Rose's  guidance  to  his  classical  studies.  Rarely  did  he 
allow  himself  a  week  or  ten  days  at  home  under  the 
roof  of  his  parents,  who  still  continued  to  reside  in 
London  after  quitting  Brunswick  Square.  Those  who 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       125 

remember  the  consuming  passion  for  poetry,  which  he 
had  exhibited  in  his  early  life,  will  not  be  surprised  to 
find  that,  on  going  to  Oxford,  the  first  object  of  his 
ambition,  perhaps  it  should  be  said  of  his  strenuous 
determination,  was  to  win  Sir  Roger  Newdigate's  prize 
for  the  best  composition  in  English  Verse.  For  this  prize 
he  competed  in  1 842,  his  first  year  of  residence  at  Oxford 
(the  subject  being  Charles  XII),  in  1843  (the  subject 
being  Cromwell),  and  again  in  1844  (the  subject  being 
the  Battle  of  the  Nile), — all  three  times  unsuccessfully. 
But  his  energy  and  elasticity  of  mind  were  proof  against  all 
discouragement:  and  in  1845  came  a  brilliant  success, — all 
the  more  gratifying  because  so  long  delayed, — ' Petra* 

"May  23,  1845.    At  i\  o'clock,  Greswell  announced  A.D.  i 
to  me  that  I  had  won  the  Newdigate  !  !    Lam  Deo." 

And  on  a  separate  page  at  the  end  of  the  Diary : — 
"June  5,  1845.  Yesterday  I  recited  '  Petra'  in  the 
Theatre.  I  have  great  reason  to  feel  most  thankful  for 
the  joyful  manner  in  which  all  went  off.  How  good  to 
us  our  Heavenly  Friend  is !  I  felt  all  manner  of  com- 
forts, and  have  since  been  only  able  to  call  to  mind  more. 
May  I  live  to  consecrate  my  prose  and  verse  to  His 
honour  and  praise  !  J.  W.  B." 

Later  in  that  year  he  took  his  degree  of  B.A.,  Nov. 
20  6,  after  being  under  examination  in  the  Schools  from 
Nov.  12  to  Nov.  19  (both  inclusive). 

6  In    a    letter   to   Mr.    Hensley  pure  villainy."   It  is  rather  touching 

(who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  to  read  in  his  Journal  of  the  next 

matriculated    on    the    same    day),  month  (May  25,  1848) ;   "Hensley 

dated  April  28,  1848,  he  looka  for-  took  his  degree.     I  could  not  (not 

ward   to   taking  his   M.A.   degree  money  enough)."     In  the  following 

with   his  old  friend  : — "  We  must  month,  however,  the  money  seems 

put    on   our    M.A.   gowns    (D.V.)  to  have  been  found.     "Wed.  June 

the  same  day  next  term,  and  strut  14,  1848,  put  on  my  M.A.  gown, 

all  round  Oxford  in  them,  running  Laus  DEO." 
over   the   Proctor,   if   possible,   for 


i26  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

On  a  separate  page  at  the  end  of  the  Diary  occurs  this 
note,  written  at  the  close  of  his  Examination,  and  before 
it  was  known  what  Class  he  had  gained : — 

"  57  St.  John's  Street,  igth  Nov.,  1845.  Wednesday 
Evening.  With  inexpressible  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of 
all  good,  do  I  here  set  down  the  record  that  my  troubles 
ended  this  day.  My  anxious  reading,  my  many  thought- 
ful, wistful  hours,  have  all  tended  to  this  point ;  and  it 
is  past !  God  be  thanked  and  praised !  Let  me  now 
look  forward  to  something  higher,  nobler,  more  abiding  ! 
J.  W.  B." 

On  Nov.  26,  "The  Class  List  came  out  at  3.  Thank 
GOD,  I  am  no  lower."  This  is  the  only  notice  taken  by 
him  in  his  Journal  of  what  must  have  been  a  sore  dis- 
appointment to  him, — his  failure  to  take  a  First  Class. 
One  of  the  reasons  of  this  failure  probably  was  that, 
while  enjoying  and  appreciating  the  Classics  in  a  way 
which  they  who  obtain  the  highest  honours  very  rarely 
are  found  to  do,  he  was,  from  want  of  early  grounding, 
deficient  in  the  technicalities  of  Grammar,  and  the  nicer 
refinements  of  Scholarship.  But  let  us  listen  in  this 
matter  to  his  contemporary  and  intimate  College  friend, 
Rev.  Alfred  Hensley,  who  thus  writes  to  the  author  as 
to  Burgon's  attendance  at  Lectures,  and  his  eagerness  to 
avail  himself  of  all  the  opportunities  held  out  to  him. 

"  Never  did  a  more  devoted,  humble,  loyal,  dutiful 
ahiniiiux  pass  the  threshold  of  Alma  Mater;  never  did  any 
student  strive  more  vigorously  to  avail  himself  of  all 
advantages  within  his  reach.  Day  and  night  were  well 
alike  to  him ;  and  I  have  ever  marvelled  how  his  con- 
stitution bore  the  excessive  strain,  continuous  as  it  was, 
and  how  in  the  intervals  of  meals,  and  slight  restricted 
recreation,  he  invariably  maintained  a  buoyant,  exube- 
rant cheerfulness  and  fun,  which  made  happy  all  who 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  associated  with  him. 

"Burgon  took  no  more  than  a  Second  Class.    How  was 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       127 

this  ?  You  are  doubtless  aware  of  his  disadvantageous 
start.  I  do  not  attribute  his  failure  (shall  I  so  call  it  ?) 
to  this  ;  but  as  in  a  march, — &  forced  march — through  a 
territory,  the  man  who  now  and  again  steps  aside  in 
botanical  or  geological  research,  is  retarded  in  his  pro- 
gress, so  Burgon  was  never  satisfied  without  a  nice 
exact  ferretting  out  of  every  difficulty,  sometimes  amus- 
ingly apparent  in  the  Lecture  Room,  where  the  tutor 
always  indulged  and  appreciated  his  integrity  and  zeal. 
He  never  rested  until  he  had  acquired  all  that  could  be 
known  respecting  the  matter  before  him.  His  inter- 
ruptions of  the  Lecture  were  to  be  seen  as  well  as  heard ; 
and  his  humble,  plaintive  manner  of  enquiry  was  a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  dry,  solemn  mode  of  the  tutor's 
reply,  who  nevertheless,  I  believe,  always  appreciated 
Burgon's  earnest  thirst  for  information.  I  believe  his 
notes  on  the  Classics  would  wonderfully  testify  to  the 
fact  of  his  probing  every  question  to  the  depth,  and 
would  thus  tell  of  hours  lost, — I  mean  by  lost,  that 
a  much  more  superficial  acquaintance  would  have  an- 
swered his  purpose  in  the  Schools Nothing,  I 

feel  sure,  would  have  induced  Burgon  to  undergo  the 
process  of  cramming ;  he  would  have  regarded  it  as  a 
moral  degradation." 

His  own  view  of  the  reasons  of  his  failure  to  obtain 
a  First  Class  will  be  seen  in  the  Letter  of  Nov.  22, 
1845,  to  Mr.  Dawson  Turner. 

The  names  of  the  Masters  of  the  Schools  who  con- 
ducted the  Examination  in  Michaelmas  Term,  1845,  were 
Henry  George  Liddell  (now  Dean  of  Christ  Church), 
Charles  Daman,  John  Matthias  Wilson,  and  Arthur 
West  Haddan. 

Early  in  the  year  succeeding  that  in  which  he  took  A-D-  l8 
his  degree  there  appeared  his  "  Remarks  on  Art  with 
reference  to  the  Studies  of  the  University.     In  a  letter 
addressed   to   the  Rev.  Richard  Greswell,  B.D.,  Tutor 
(late   Fellow)  of  Worcester  College."     His  soul  must 


i28  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

have  been  in  its  pleasant  places,  while  writing  that 
pamphlet;  for  it  would  take  him  back  to  the  old 
familial-  pursuits  and  associations  of  his  early  life, 
which  had  been  broken  off  for  three  full  years  by  the 
stern  necessity  of  classical  studies.  It  is  pleasant  to 
see,  while  reading  it,  how  much  at  home  he  is  in  his  old 
element,  and  how  discursive  he  accordingly  becomes, 
expatiating  freely  on  either  side  of  him,  as  tempting 
themes  seduce  him  from  the  straight  path  of  his  argu- 
ment. The  ostensible  purpose  of  the  Letter  is  to  urge 
upon  Mr.  Ores  well,  his  most  kind  friend,  and  recently  his 
College  Tutor,  and  through  him  upon  the  authorities  of 
the  University  generally,  the  providing  of  some  means, 
more  than  Oxford  then  afforded,  of  studying  Ancient  and 
Modern  Art.  Ancient  Literature,  he  argues,  to  the  study 
of  which  the  University  directs  her  alumni,  as  the  prin- 
cipal instrument  of  Education,  is  more  or  less  closely 
connected  with  Ancient  Art,  so  that  "  to  understand  either 
one  must  study  loth"  and  " that  to  understand  the  one 
thoroughly,  without  studying  the  other  at  all,  is  utterly 
impossible  "  [p.  46].  He  suggests  therefore  that  a  series 
of  casts  be  provided  from  the  ^Eginetan  marbles,  from 
the  Parthenon  marbles,  and  from  the  celebrated  sculp- 
tures of  the  epoch  after  Alexander  the  Great  (the  Laocoon, 
Farnese  Hercules,  &c.)  and  placed  in  the  Taylor  Gallery 
in  a  position  accessible  to  students.  But  he  also  takes 
occasion  to  enlarge  on  ancient  Coins,  as  illustrative  of 
ancient  history,  and  furnishing  many  portraits  of  the 
great  personages  of  antiquity.  And  although  he  holds 
painting,  as  distinct  from  colouring,  to  be  an  Art 
of  Christian  growth,  he  would  fain  "  see  the  walls  of 
some  building  in  Oxford  adorned  with  faithful  copies  of 
the  grandest  pictures  in  the  world "  ;  for  "  no  one  can 
study  the  works  of  Raphael  without  improvement :  no 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      129 

one  can  understand  them  without  study"  [pp.  68,  69]. 
"  Two  of  the  affections  of  bodies,"  he  says  [p.  13], — 
"  Number  and  Quantity — are  deemed  sufficiently  im- 
portant to  constitute  the  principal  feature  in  the  education 
of  the  sister  University  :  a  high  place  too  they  enjoy  in 
our  own  system.  Is  it  not  somewhat  extraordinary  that 
two  other,  equally  inseparable,  affections  of  bodies, — 
Form  and  Colour — should  constitute,  in  neither  place, 
oii;/  part  of  education  at  all?  "  It  must  be  admitted  that 
in  this  Pamphlet  he  calls  attention,  in  a  manner  at  once 
useful  and  interesting,  to  a  weak  point  in  the  then  sys- 
tem of  education  at  the  University, — that  point  being 
the  very  jejune  provision  made  for  the  cultivation  of 
artistic  tastes  in  her  students.  He  maintains  that  those 
students  are  not  without  the  rudiment  of  such  tastes,  as 
is  shown  by  the  pictures  with  which  they  adorn  the  walls 
of  their  rooms.  "  We  have  but  to  look  around  us  to  be 
convinced  that  there  exists  in  this  place  a  strong  yearning 
for  Art :  which  only  wants  direction,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  made  available  for  a  high  purpose."  It  may  be  added 
that  several  of  the  suggestions  made  in  this  pamphlet  in 
regard  to  the  Taylor  Gallery,  have  so  commended  them- 
selves as  reasonable  to  the  authorities  of  the  University, 
that  they  have  been  carried  into  effect. 

It  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connexion  as  another 
instance  which  goes  to  shew  that  artistic  occupations 
had  not  lost  for  Burgon  the  attractiveness,  which  from 
his  earliest  years  they  had,  that  the  Frontispiece  of  Mr. 
Linwood's  'Anthologia  Oxoniensis.'  in  which  are  represented 
the  coins  of  some  of  those  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  which 
contended  for  the  honour  of  having  been  the  birthplace 
of  Homer 7,  was  executed  by  him.  He  was  one  of  the 

7  This  Anthology  contains  many        pieces  of  Latin  and  Greek  Verses, 
exquisite  translations,  and  original        Perhaps  the  gem  of  the  Collection  is 
VOL.    I.  K 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

earliest  members  of  the  Oxford  "  Art  Society,"  of  which 
Dr.  Wellesley  and  Mr.  Greswell,  Burgon's  old  College 
Tutor  and  most  kind  friend,  were  the  leaders  and  heads ; 
and  the  work  of  designing  the  Frontispiece  for  Mr.  Lin- 
wood's  book  would  be  in  every  way  a  congenial  one,  not 
only  because  Art  was  one  of  his  fortes,  but  as  summoning 
back  to  him  the  associations  of  his  past.  The  publica- 
tion is  dated  1846,  the  year  in  which  he  put  forth  his 
'  Remarks  on  Art.' 

On  the  1 3th  of  April,  1846,  began  the  Examination  for 
the  Oriel  Fellowship.  From  the  brief  notes  in  his  Diary 
he  seems  to  have  regarded  his  success  as  hopeless. 
"Monday,  Ap.  13.  English  Essay  and  Latin  writing 
Felt  sure  it  was  hopeless  trying  further."  "Tues.  Ap. 
14.  Latin  Essay.  Physical  Paper.  It  is  quite  hopeless." 
On  a  separate  page  at  the  end  of  the  Diary  is  this 
longer  note. 

"April  14,  1846,  Tuesday  night  (2  o'clock).  Yes- 
Mr.  Osborne  Gordon's  Greek  Elegiacs  to  right,  Chios.  No.  7  and  8,  the 
on  Chantrey's  monument  to  the  Two  obverse  and  reverse  of  the  coin  be- 
Children  in  Lichfield  Cathedral.  low,  both  of  Mytilene.  The  seated 
ParsSecunda.  xx.  Here  is  a  descrip-  figure  (at  head  of  title-page)  recalls 
tion  of  Burgon's  Frontispiece,  with  a  class  of  Greek  sepulchral  reliefs, 
which  Mr.  Arthur  Evans,  keeper  of  in  which  departed  ladies  for  in- 
the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford,  stance  are  represented  with  articles 
has  kindly  furnished  the  author : —  of  the  toilet,  such  as  the  unguent- 
"The  Medallions,  as  you  rightly  vase  and  mirror,  suspended  above 
suppose,  represent  coins  referring  to  the  person  here  represented.  Bur- 
some  of  the  cities  that  contended  gon,  who  was  no  doubt  familiarised 
for  Homer's  birthplace.  No.  I,  with  with  this  kind  of  reliefs  at  Smyrna, 
Legend  of  OMHPO2,  answers  to  the  has  here  apparently  adapted  one  to 
head  of.  Homer  on  coins  of  los; — this  the  character  of  a  Muse  (the  pensive 
is  on  the  left  of  the  title-page.  No.  attitude  suggesting  perhaps  Poly- 
a,  (on  the  right)  with  Homer  seated,  hymnia)  and  added  the  lyre.  Eros 
is  from,  a  coin  of  Smyrna.  No.  3,  as  a  racer  is  introduced  below,  per- 
left,  Colophon..  No.  4,  to  right,  haps  to  indicate  the  lighter  subjects 
Mytilene.  No.  5,  left,  Teoa.  No.  6,  of  the  volume." 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       131 

terday  and  to-day  I  have  been  at  Oriel,  trying  for  one  of 
the  three  vacant  Fellowships.  I  had  bright  hopes  till  I 
went  in,  and  then  all  left  me  !  It  is  indeed  hopeless.  I 
will  add  a  word  on  Friday,  when  all  is  over. 

"  It  is  my  comfort  to  think  that  all  such  things  are  in 
higher  keeping.  GOD  be  praised  for  my  disappointments, 
as  well  as  for  my  gratifications !  Amen,  Amen ! " 

But  on  Friday,  the  i  7th,  an  agreeable  surprise  was  in 
store  for  him. 

"  Ap.  17.  Friday  Night.  I  was  this  day  elected  a 
Fellow  of  Oriel  College.  Hensley  and  Acres  outstripped 
the  Provost's  servant  by  half  a  minute  in  bringing  me 
the  news.  How  full  of  blessings  has  my  life  been  till 
now  !  This,  the  last,  not  least !  How  wondrous  it  seems 
that  I  should  be  vice  Newman !  .  .  .  .  May  GOD  give  me 
grace  and  help  to  live  as  if  I  loved  HIM,  and  was  sen- 
sible of  His  exceeding  favour  and  mercy ! " 

His  degree  taken,  and  his  Fellowship  secured,  his  next 
principal  object  was  to  prepare  himself  for  Holy  Orders. 
With  this  view,  he  attended,  while  residing  in  Oxford, 
the  Lectures  of  Professors  Hussey  and  Jacobson.  And 
when  at  Houghton  Conquest,  he  devoted  himself  to  un- 
remitting Theological  study  :  and  we  meet  with  such 
notices  in  his  Diary  as  the  following,  written  across  the 
register  of  several  days ;  "  I  was  all  this  time  fagging  at 
Pearson  and  some  of  the  Fathers — often  for  twelve  hours 
a  day." 

Under  the  date  June  4,  1847,  we  come  across  this  A-D-  184; 
notice  in  the  Diary  :  "  Gained  the  Mlerton  (Laus  Deo !)." 
The  subject  of  the  Ellerton  Theological  Essay  Prize  in 
that  year  was,  "The  importance  of  Translation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures8."     In  the  year  1846  he  had  competed 

*  On  the  title-page  of  his  MS.  in  Passion  Week,  1 847 — Written  on 
copy  of  this  Essay,  he  has  written ;  the  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thtirs- 
"  Begun  on  the  evening  of  Monday  day  and  Saturday — transcribed  on 

K  2 


132 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


unsuccessfully  for  the  same  prize,  the  subject  then  being, 
"  That  a  Divine  Revelation  contains  mysteries  is  no  valid 
argument  against  its  truth." 

It  should  be  mentioned,  if  only  by  way  of  shewing  the 
immense  amount  of  work  of  various  descriptions  under- 
taken by  him,  that  after  his  degree  he  took  private 
pupils,  not  however  apparently  to  read  for  Honours 
(which  he  seems  to  have  considered  that  his  Second 
Class  hardly  justified  him  in  doing)  but  simply  to 
prepare  them  for  taking  an  ordinary  degree.  Thus 
writes  one  of  them  to  the  author  under  date  March  29, 
1890: — 


Easter  Monday  and  Tuesday,  and 
on  Wednesday,  when  it  was  given 
in."  He  had  no  high  esteem  for  his 
production ;  for  on  one  of  the  fly- 
leaves is  written  in  pencil ;  "  I  never 
glance  over  this  very  jejune  Essay, 
or  think  of  it,  without  shame.  The 
rapidity  with  which  it  was  written 
is  its  sole  apology.  The  success 
which  attended  it,  its  sole  merit. 
J.  W.  B."  Nevertheless,  hia  Essay 
shews  a  perfect  mastery  of  the  main 
points  in  which  the  Authorised  Ver- 
sion needs  amendment,  and  sums  up 
very  effectively  all  the  learning  on 
the  subject  of  the  Septuagint.  It  is 
interesting  to  observe  that,  while  he 
indicates  passages  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, in  which  the  Translation 
might  be  improved,  he  does  not  ad- 
rocate  Revision.  "  It  is  the  part  of 
a  shallow  wisdom  that  would  seek 
to  tamper  on  slight  grounds  with 
such  a  monument  of  collective  learn- 
ing and  sound  judgment  [as  the 
Authorised  Version].  And  when  it 
u  discovered  (as  every  one  will  dis- 
cover who  makes  the  experiment) 


that  an  approximation  to  excellence 
is  after  all  the  utmost  that  is  attain- 
able ;  that  inconsistencies  will  be 
discoverable  after  the  greatest  pains 
have  been  bestowed,  and  that 
scarcely  a  word  can  be  disturbed  in 
the  existing  text  without  affecting 
the  harmony  of  remote  and  ap- 
parently unconnected  passages ;  that 
an  attempt  to  remedy  a  mistransla- 
tion in  one  place  will  probably  in- 
troduce an  inconsistency i n  another; 
and  that  almost  every  thing,  as  it 
stands,  seems  to  have  an  assignable 
reason  ; — when  these  considerations 
have  been  duly  entertained,  it  may 
well  be  expected  that  the  boldest 
and  most  sanguine  will  be  deterred 
from  the  attempt  to  re-model."  This 
expectation  was  disappointed,  as  we 
know.  Remodelling,  of  the  most 
thorough  and  drastic  character,  both 
as  regards  the  text  and  the  transla- 
tion, was  attempted  some  years 
afterwards,  and  called  down  severe 
castigation  on  its  perpetrators  from 
the  pen  of  the  Denyer  Prize  Essayist 
of  1847. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       133 

"  I  read  Greek  Plays  with  Mr.  Burgon  at  Oriel.  There 
was  a  tradition  then  that  his  elegant  and  felicitous  trans- 
lations got  him  his  Fellowship  at  Oriel.  Anyhow,  it  was 
very  charming  to  read  with  him.  He  was,  as  you  know, 
among  his  many  other  accomplishments,  a  poet.  I,  too, 
loved  poetry ;  so  we  were  quite  en  rapport.  When  we 
finished  the  Plays,  he  said,  '  Now,  B  *****,  if  you  in- 
tend to  go  in  for  Honours,  and  read  Ethics,  you  had 

better  go  to  a  First  Class  man.'     So  I  went  to , 

then  an  enthusiast  and  a  scholar.  But  I  returned,  after 
taking  my  degree  (a  Pass,  from  broken  health),  to  read 
Theology  with  Mr.  Burgon,  following  him  over  to 
Houghton  Conquest,  where  lived  dear  Mrs.  Rose  his 
sister,  and  where  I  became  very  intimate  with  all  the 
family.  Of  his  Theology  I  need  say  nothing:  he  was 
a  Master  in  it.  He  certainly,  to  my  mind,  interested  his 

pupils  in  their  work When  we  finished  our  Plays, 

and  I  was  about  to  return  to  my  College  in  the  evening, 
he  would  kiss  me  on  the  cheek, — amusing,  if  it  had  not 

been  so  sweet  and  loving Dear  Dean  Burgon  ! 

although  of  late  years  we  corresponded  only  at  Christ- 
mas, I  owe  to  him  very  much His  last  kind  act 

was  to  give  me  an  introduction  to  Bishop  John  Words- 
worth, our  Diocesan." 

And  thus  another  (under  date  March  12,  1890),  who 
was  a  private  pupil  of  J.  W.  B.'s  some  eight  or  nine 
years  after  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  speaking 
(1847):- 

"  Burgon  was  very  kind  to  me  when  I  was  at  Oxford  ; 

and  I  often  went  to  his  rooms I  only  went  in  for 

a  Pass,  and  I  got  it ;  so  I  am  bound  to  say  that  he  was  so 
far  a  success.  I  was  very  fond  of  him  ;  and  he  was  most 
quaint.  To  see  him,  as  he  talked  of  Mediaeval  Art,  pose 
as  a  Saint  in  an  old  stained  glass  window  was  a  sight  to 

be  remembered But  no  stories  of  him  that  I  know  of 

seem  much  good  when  written  down.     It  was  the  man  and 

the  manner  that  made  them When  one  thinks 

of  him,  it  is  as  the  true,  fearless,  loving  friend,  with  a 


134  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

heart  that  was   not  ashamed  to  shew  its  tears  or  its 
love." 

Finally,  it  will  be  desirable  to  say  something  in  refer- 
ence to  Burgon's  connexion  with  the  Oxford  Movement, 
and  to  the  influence  which,  as  one  or  more  of  the  an- 
nexed letters  shew,  Mr.  (afterwards  Cardinal)  Newman  at 
first  exercised  over  him.  The  Movement  was  at  its  close 
when  he  matriculated  at  Oxford  in  the  October  of  1841. 
Early  in  that  year  the  celebrated  Tract  XC  had  made 
its  appearance.  This  famous  paper  resembled,  in  the 
sensation  which  it  created  in  the  Church,  one  of  those 
closing  displays  in  pyrotechnics,  the  detonations  of  which 
are  repeated  again  and  again,  even  when  we  think  every 
explosion  to  be  the  last.  Bishop  after  Bishop  charged 
against  the  Tract.  Four  Tutors  of  important  Colleges 
"  remonstrated,"  in  the  name  of  religion  and  morality, 
against  a  method  of  interpretation,  by  which  the  Thirty- 
Nine  Articles  might  be  made  to  mean  anything  or 
nothing  9.  The  Hebdomadal  Board  pronounced  its  mode 
of  interpreting  the  Articles  to  be  "  inconsistent  with  the 
Statutes  of  the  University."  Shoals  of  Pamphlets  and 
Sermons  threatened  to  overwhelm  and  extinguish  the 
offending  paper,  as  an  avalanche  buries  underneath  it  an 
Alpine  village  ;  bound  up  with  all  the  censures  it  elicited, 
Tract  XC  became  the  centre  of  a  literature  of  its  own. 
Last,  but  not  least,  it  exploded  the  series  of  '  Tracts  for  the 
Timesl  which  were  thenceforth  discontinued  by  Mr.  New- 
man in  deference  to  the  unfavourable  judgment  which 
his  own  Bishop,  in  common  with  every  other  Bishop  on 
the  bench,  pronounced  upon  this  ill-starred  publication. 

•  The  "Remonstrance"  was  ad-  of    Brasenose,   Mr.  Wilson   of    St. 

dressed  to  the  Hebdomadal  Board,  John's,  Mr.  Griffiths  of  Wadhain, 

or  Body  of  Heads  of  Houses,  and  and  Mr.  Tait  of  Balliol. 
was  signed  by  Mr.  Churton,  Tutor 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      135 

John  William  Burgon,  though  at  that  time  only  a 
theologian  and  controversialist  in  posse,  had  lived  in  the 
midst  of  the  ferment  which  the  publication  had  created, 
and  must  have  been  perfectly  well  aware  of  the  many 
grave  censures  which  had  been  launched  against  it  by 
men  of  all  schools  in  the  Established  Church.  We  can 
only  suppose  that,  being  more  or  less  prepossessed  in 
favour  of  the  Oxford  Movement  by  his  attendance  upon 
Mr.  Dods worth's  ministry  in  London,  he  had  elected  to 
take  sides  with  Mr.  Newman,  and  to  support  him,  as 
long  as  he  found  it  practicable  to  do  so,  with  all  the 
chivalrous  generosity  of  his  ardent  and  enthusiastic 
nature.  Alas!  that  this  generous  confidence  of  his 
was  destined  to  receive  a  rude  shock,  amounting  to 
a  death-blow,  when  in  October,  1845,  Mr.  Newman 
•  a>ked  of  Father  Dominic,  the  Passionist,  then  his 
guest  at  Littlemore,  admission  into  the  one  Fold  of 
Christ1." 

In  that  secession  "  there  were  great  searchings  of 
heart,"  which  revealed,  in  other  cases  besides  that  of 
John  W'iUiam  Burgon,  who  were,  and  who  were  not, 
true  at  the  core  of  their  moral  being  to  the  principles  of 
the  English  Reformation.  Yet  his  deep  personal  vene- 
ration for  Mr.  Newman  subsisted  still.  In  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Lawson  of  June  17,  1845  (a  portion  of  which  will  be 
submitted  to  the  reader  presently),  he  gives  a  glimpse  of 
his  feelings  of  vexation  and  dismay,  should  Newman's 
secession,  which  was  then  only  apprehended  as  possible, 
occur.  What  his  emotions  were,  when  it  did  occur,  and 
having  been  sceptical  at  first  as  to  the  truth  of  the 
rumour,  he  received  confirmation  of  it  from  Dr.  Pusey, 
we  learn  from  the  interesting  Address  delivered  by 

1  The  words  in  which  Mr.  New-  tism,  in  his  '  Apologia  '  [London, 
man  himself  expresses  his  Re-Bap-  1864],  p.  367. 


136  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Prebendary  Powles  at  the  dedication  of  the  Dean  Burgon 
Memorial  Window  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Chichester 
Cathedral  (April  12,  i89o)2.  When  Dr.  Pusey  told  him 
it  was  but  too  true,  "  he  was  completely  overcome, 
and  burst  into  a  passion  of  weeping  so  violent  and  so 
long  as  to  greatly  perplex  his  companion.  Speaking 
of  it  to  me  many  years  afterwards,  Burgon  said,  '  I 
shed  so  many  tears  then  that  I  have  had  none  to  shed 
since.' " 

L.D.  1848.  It  appears  from  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose. 
"  and  other  friends,  that  early  in  the  autumn  of  1 848  he 
had  had  thoughts  of  postponing  his  Ordination  for  six 
months,  and  accompanying  a  pupil  to  Egypt  and  Syria. 
But  the  scheme  was  frustrated.  "  I  was  within  an  ace 
of  starting  for  Egypt  and  Syria  in  a  week  or  two,"  he 
writes  Sept.  14,  1848,  in  his  usual  punning  vein,  to  the 
Rev.  R.  Lawson  (an  intimate  College  friend,  who  had 
now  taken 'Holy  Orders),  "but  cholera  and  war  have 
knocked  the  scheme  on  the  head ;  so  it  will  be  Sam 
Oxon  instead  of  John  Crocodile  after  all." 

His  views  and  feelings  in  prospect  of  his  Ordination, 
as  well  as  the  account  of  this  solemn  crisis  in  his  life, 
so  pregnant  with  happy  consequences  to  himself  and 
others,  will  be  best  given  in  the  words  of  the  two 
letters  to  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose,  with  which  this 
Section  closes. 

What  has  been  said  will,  it  is  hoped,  serve  to  explain 
the  following  excerpts  from  his  Letters,  where  they  may 
need  explanation.  The  Letters  are  given  in  the  order  of 
their  dates. 

2  Printed  for  Private  Circulation  by  Wilmshurst,  Chichester. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      137 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Worcester  Coll.,  16  Feb.,  1843. 

'•  My  dear  Friend, — 

"  The  Christmas  Vacation  has  intervened  since  I  ad- 
dressed you  last.  I  passed  it  altogether  at  Hough  ton.— 
fVTVx&s  fic'f,  dAA.'  ojuco?  Ta  TU>V  TCKOVTCOV  o/jt/ma^'  TjfSioror 
She-new 3 !  So  said  Sophocles,  and  so  felt  I.  To  be 
invited  home,  and  at  Christmas  too, — Christmas,  which, 
in  the  words  of  the  old  song,  'comes  but  once  a  year,' — 
to  be  invited  by  one's  Mother,  and  to  have  to  decline !  I 
never  did  such  a  thing  in  my  life.  But  I  felt  clearly 
that  the  alternative  lay  between  pleasure  and  duty 
Had  I  gone  home,  I  should  have  done  nothing  ;  by  stay- 
ing at  Houghton  I  mastered  the  Agamemnon.  I  think 
it  is  by  far  the  most  difficult  Greek  I  ever  encountered, — 
harder  by  far  than  the  speeches  in  Thucydides  (through 
which  I  am  ploughing  very  cheerfully).  These  last  are 
hard, — excessively,  I  admit; — so  hard  that  I  frequently 
screw  up  my  lamp  about  midnight,  in  order  to  throw 
light  on  the  subject,  and  rub  my  eyes  (in  vain)  in  order 
to  see  through  the  condensed  mass :  but  -^Eschylus  offers 
difficulties  of  quite  another  kind.  A  grammarian  might 
see  through  the  one  ;  but  it  requires  a  poet  to  see  through 
the  other. 

"  He  reminds  me  very  much  of  Shakspeare.  They 
were  kindred  spirits.  I  could  almost  point  out  passages 
where  one  feels  sure  that  if  Shakspeare  had  written 
Greek,  he  would  have  hit  on  the  same  turns  of  expression, 
the  same  bold  imagery  and  strong  language.  This  is  the 
kind  of  speculation  which  particularly  endears  my 
studies  to  me.  I  am  told  that  it  will  avail  me  nothing 
in  the  Schools, — that  it  will  not  pay.  But  I  care  not ; 

3  "  Tho'  it  turned  out  for  good,  B.'s  letters  has  been  to  accentuate 

most  sweet  it  is,  his  Greek  quotations.  Usually 

Xathless,  to  see  one's  parents  face  to  these  are  unaccentuated.  From 

face"  want  of  practice  probably,  he  did 

[CEdipus,  speaking  of  his  long  not  feel  confident  enough  to  accen- 

exile  from  Corinth].  (Ed.  Tyr.  998, 9.  tuate  any  but  the  more  ordinary 

— The  only  liberty  taken  with  J .  W.  words. 


i  ^8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

O 

it  will  make  me  happy;  and  we  shall  see,  three  or 
four  years  hence,  whether  something  new  is  not  to  be 
said  in  illustration  of  the  old  Tragedians.  ••••;!  studied 
the  Agamemnon  with  the  aid  of  Peile's  Edition,  which 
you  perhaps  have  seen.  After  I  had  finished  my  task,  I 
nattered  myself  that  I  understood  the  play  pretty  well, 
and  took  the  liberty  of  writing  Mr.  Peile  a  long  letter  of 
three  pages  on  the  subject,  chiefly  critical.  He  has  sent 
me  a  very  kind  reply. 

"  I  never  passed  eight  weeks  more  uneventfully  than 
those  of  Christmas.  I  studied  all  day  ;  and  the  gloomy 
season  protected  me  from  many  invitations,  and  intrusions 
of  visitors.  The  contrast  the  country  presented  to  the 
bonny  garb  of  green  in  which  I  had  left  it,  was  very 
painful.  The  comfort  was  to  consider  that  when  I  visit 
Houghton  again,  all  the  beauty  will  be  restored.  Oh ! 
how  glorious  it  will  be.  I  long  to  grapple  with  Aristo- 
phanes, and  renew  my  acquaintance  with  ^Eschylus, — 
things  impossible  here,  where  quantity  is  so  insisted  on, 
and,  I  fear,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  quality  over- 
looked. But  I  am  not  going  to  find  fault  with  mine 
University,  where  I  am  as  happy  as  the  days  are  long, — 
I  mean  as  the  days  are  short. 

"I  wish  very  much  you  could  have  heard  a  very 
remarkable  sermon  Mr.  Newman  preached  before  the 
University  on  the  Feast  of  the  Purification, — the  most 
remarkable  production  of  its  class  I  ever  heard  4.  So  ex- 

*  Here  ii  another  description  of  to  hear  what  Newman  had  to  say, 

this  famous  sermon  by  another  and  St.  Mary's  was  crowded  to  the 

auditor, — equally  appreciative  with  door.  The  subject  he  spoke  of  was 

Burgon, — and  equally  endowed  with  '  The  Theory  of  Development  in 

the  poetical  gift, — the  late  Principal  Christian  Doctrine,'  a  subject  which 

Shairp.  since  then  has  become  common 

"There  was  one  occasion  of  a  property,  but  which  at  that  time 

different  kind,  when  he  spoke  from  was  new  even  to  the  ablest  men  in 

St.  Mary's  pulpit  for  the  last  time,  Oxford.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  he 

not  as  parish  minister,  but  as  drew  out  the  argument,  and  perhaps 

University  preacher.  It  was  the  the  acutest  there  did  not  quite 

crisis  of  the  movement.  On  the  2nd  follow  the  entire  line  of  thought, 

of  February,  1843,  the  Feast  of  the  or  felt  wearied  by  the  length  of  it, 

Purification,  all  Oxford  assembled  lightened  though  it  was  by  some 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      139 

tremely  universal  in  its  scope,  that  it  was  impossible, 
from  hearing  it  once,  to  grasp  its  meaning  as  a  whole, 
and  so  exceedingly  subtle  and  often  metaphysical,  that  it 
was  no  less  difficult  to  understand  its  several  parts.  Still 
the  general  impression  was  clear  enough,  and  such  as  I 
shall  not  easily  forget.  Often  when  I  am  at  my  Greek, 
a  passage  or  a  sentiment  comes  swelling  across  me,  and 
I  cannot  but  stop  to  admire,  even  in  memory,  the  un- 
atit-cted  eloquence  of  the  preacher.  I  thought  him  sin- 
gularly effective, — yet  could  not  but  feel  how  completely 
his  very  weakness  (so  to  speak)  was  his  strength.  His 
silence  was  eloquent,  and  his  pauses  worth  a  torrent  of 
rhetoric.  He  spoke  of  the  connexion  between  Faith  and 
Reason,  and  enlarged  on  the  memorable  peculiarity  of 
the  pages  of  Inspiration  that,  containing  as  they  do  the 
principle  of  life  within  them,  they  are  capable  of  infinite 
•  •xi>tence,  and  are  eternally  spreading  and  developing 


startling  illustrations.  Such  was 
the  famous  '  Protestantism  has  at 
various  times  developed  into 
Polygamy,'  or  the  still  more  famous 
'  Scripture  says  the  sun  moves  round 
the  earth,  Science  that  the  earth 
moves,  and  the  sun  is  comparatively 
at  rest.  How  can  we  determine 
which  of  these  opposite  statements 
is  true,  till  we  know  what  motion 
is  ? '  Few  probably  who  heard  it 
have  forgot  the  tone  of  voice  with 
which  he  uttered  the  beautiful  pas- 
sage about  music  as  the  audible 
embodiment  of  some  unknown  reality 
behind,  itself  sweeping  like  a  strain 
of  splendid  music  out  of  the  heart  of 
a  subtle  argument : — 

'  Take  another  instance  of  an 
outward  and  earthly  form,  or 
economy,  under  which  great  wonders 
unknown  seem  to  be  typified ;  I 
mean  musical  sounds,  as  they  are 
exhibited  most  perfectly  in  instru- 


mental harmony.  There  are  seven 
notes  in  the  scale  ;  make  them  four- 
teen ;  yet  what  a  slender  outfit  for 
BO  vast  an  enterprise !  What  science 
brings  so  much  out  of  so  little  ? 
Out  of  what  poor  elements  does 
some  great  master  create  his  new 
world  !  Shall  we  say  that  all  this 
exuberant  inventiveness  is  a  mere 
ingenuity  or  trick  of  art,  like  some 
game  or  fashion  of  the  day,  without 
reality,  without  meaning?  We 
may  do  so ;  and  then,  perhaps,  we 
shall  also  account  the  science  of 
theology  to  be  a  matter  of  words ; 
yet,  as  there  is  a  divinity  in  the 
theology  of  the  Church,  which  those 
who  feel  cannot  communicate,  so 
there  is  also  in  the  wonderful  crea- 
tion of  sublimity  and  beauty  of 
which  I  aui  speaking,'  &c.,  &c." 
[Principal  Shairp's  'Studies  in 
Poetry  and  Philosophy,1  pp.  249-51. 
Edinburgh:  1886.] 


140 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


themselves  in  fresh  forms  of  being5.  I  cannot  how- 
ever hope  to  give  you  an  idea  even  of  Newman's  sermon. 
I  only  alluded  to  the  subject,  because  I  gather  from  your 
recent  letters  that  you  feel  interested  concerning  him. 
One  of  his  friends  who  called  on  me  yesterday,  told  me 
that  the  sermon  (with  twelve  others,  all  preached  before 

the  University)  will  be  published  on  Saturday 

And  now,  my  good  friend,  I  wish  you  farewell.  I  fear  I 
write  a  sad,  dull  letter,  but  if  you  will  fancy  to  yourself 
a  poor  monk,  the  lonely  tenant  of  a  lonely  cell  in  the 
lonely  corner  of  a  lonely  quadrangle  in  a  lonely  college, 
will  you  wonder  at  his  having  no  Paradise  of  Dainty 
Devices  ?  In  truth,  I  have  nothing  but  my  affectionate 
good  wishes  to  send  to  you  all,  and  I  beg  you  will  ac- 
cept them. 

"  Ever  most  faithfully  yours, 


5  J.  W.  B.  has  in  his  mind  such 
passages  of  the  great  Sermon  as 
these :  "  Such  sentences  as  '  The 
Word  was  God,'  or  '  the  Only- 
begotten  Son  who  is  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Father,'  or  'the  Word  was 
made  flesh,'  or  'the  Holy  Ghost 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,' 
are  not  a  mere  letter  which  we  may 
handle  by  the  rules  of  art  at  our 
own  will,  but  august  tokens  of 
most  simple,  ineffable,  adorable 
facts,  embraced,  enshrined  accord- 
ing to  its  measure  in  the  believing 
mind.  For  though  the  develop- 
ment of  an  idea  is  a  deduction  of 
proposition  from  proposition,  these 
propositions  are  ever  formed  in  and 
round  the  idea  itself  (so  to  speak), 
and  are  in  fact  one  and  all  only 
aspecta  of  it,"  p.  334.  "  Revela- 
tion itself  has  provided  in  Scripture 
the  main  outlines  and  also  large 


"JOHN   W.   BURGOX." 

details  of  the  dogmatic  system. 
Inspiration  has  superseded  the 
exercise  of  human  Reason  in  great 
measure,  and  left  it  but  the  com- 
paratively easy  task  of  finishing  the 
sacred  work.  The  question,  indeed, 
at  first  sight  occurs,  why  such 
inspired  statements  are  not  enough 
without  further  developments ;  but 
in  truth,  when  Reason  has  once 
been  put  on  the  investigation,  it 
cannot  stop  till  it  has  finished  it; 
one  dogma  creates  another,  by  the 
same  right  by  which  it  was  itself 
created ;  the  Scripture  statements 
are  sanctions  as  well  as  informants 
in  the  inquiry  ;  they  begin  and  they 
do  not  exhaust,"  p.  335.  [Fifteen 
Sermons  preached  before  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  between  A.D.  1826  and 
1 843,  by  John  Henry  Newman,some- 
time  Fellow  of  Oriel  College.  New 
Edition.  London,  MUCCCLXXXVU.] 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       141 
To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Houghton  Conquest,  July  1  7,  1  843. 

"  My  dear  Friend,  —  ....  I  called  on  Mr.  Rogers, 
who  certainly  shows  marks  of  his  age,  —  I  mean  men- 
tally. Though  he  had  been  at  home  a  few  days  before, 
and  expressed  a  particular  wish  to  see  me  when  I  came 
from  Oxford,  he  seemed  to  have  a  very  vague  idea  of  the 
categories  of  Trodev  and  TTOU''  (whence  and  where),  "as  far  as 
/  was  concerned.  He  was  extremely  kind  however, 
wanted  me  to  breakfast  with  him,  and  gave  me  a  Lec- 
ture in  the  art  of  writing  Poetry,  &c.,  quite  in  the  old 
style,  —  declaring  that  he  had  never  in  his  life  written 
more  than  a  couplet  per  diem  ;  that  the  young  men  wrote 
all  too  fast,  and  so  far  repeated  himself  as  to  ask  me 
whether  I  should  like  to  see  the  same  thought  expressed 
by  Wordsworth,  Milnes,  Southey  and  himself.  Of  course 
1  \vas  game  for  everything  he  pleased,  and  had  and 
capita  (I  c<l,  as  if  it  had  been  new  to  me.  It  was  very 
droll  to  hear  him,  in  the  same  chair  of  the  same  room, 
among  the  same  pictures,  and  in  the  same  voice,  making 
the  very  same  remarks  I  have  heard  him  make,  at  least 
before,  at  intervals  of  a  year  or  two. 


"  I  write  these  few  lines  from  a  little  room  which  looks 
down  on  an  avenue  of  limes,  which  limes  being  in  full 
blossom,  attract  swarms  of  bees  (whose  hives  are  in  the 
garden  beneath)  and  a  perpetual  low  hum  is  the  result 
from  morning  till  night.  I  love  bees  —  they  always  seem 
so  industrious  —  and  one  always  thinks  (at  least  /  do)  of 
the  delicate  fare  they  are  providing  for  me.  At  \  past 
4,  when  I  opened  my  window  this  morning,  they  were  all 
hard  at  work,  humming  away  in  their  brown  aprons,  like 
a  set  of  little  Manchester  mechanics. 

"  My  daily  work  has  been  hitherto  twenty  chapters  of 
Herodotus,  and  as  many  as  I  can  master  of  Livy.  I  wish 
to  get  it  up  to  ten  a  day.  I  read  besides  with  care  two 
chapters  in  the  Old  Testament,  learn  a  piece  of  Latin  by 
heart,  do  a  Latin  exercise,  and  read  a  chapter  of  Greek 
history.  If  I  can  go  on  as  well  as  I  have  begun,  or 


142  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

rather  better,  I  shall  satisfy  myself  >  who,  though  I  know  I  am 
working  as  hard  as  ever  I  can,  never  feel  satisfied,  scarcely. 
The  thought  of  what  I  have  to  do  has  prevented  nie  from 
knowing  what  it  is  to  have  my  mind  at  rest,  ever  since  I 
went  up  to  Oxford. — I  am  quite  in  love  with  my  books, 
and  enjoy  my  occupations  amazingly." 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 
"  Houghton  Conquest,  St.  Thomas'  Day,  1 843. 

"  My  dear  Friend, — 

"  You  will  see  by  the  date  of  this  letter  where  I  am.  I 
prolonged  my  stay  rather  late  in  Oxford,  because  I  was  but 
ill  prepared  for  the  little  examination  at  the  end  of  the 
Term,  and  a  few  days  all  to  one's  self  are  suck  a  luxury  after 
the  incessant  occupation  of  eight  weeks, — occupation 
which,  however  salutary  1  know  and  feel  it  to  be,  is  a  great 
trial  to  one  of  my  roving  propensities,  who  hate  wearing 
blinkers ;  but  when  I  come  across  some  curious  subject. 
love  to  follow  up  the  hint  (which  commonly  leads  me 
a  most  will-o'-the-wisp  dance  'over  brook,  over  briar'), 
luxuriating,  as  I  go,  in  all  the  odd  pieces  of  information 
I  pick  up  on  my  way.  To  return,  however, — the  result 
of  the  few  days  I  staid  up  was  very  satisfactory ;  and  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  '  exemplary '  written  against 
my  name  in  the  Provost's  black  book.  If  he  does  not  give 
me  a  book  when  I  go  back,  I  shall  call  him  a  very  un- 
gentlemanly  person. 

"  I  think  the  pleasantest  party  I  was  at  during  the 
Term  was  at  Mr.  Newman's,  who  kindly  invited  me  to 
dinner  at  Oriel.  It  was  very  agreeable,  you  may  be 
sure,  to  be  so  near  so  good  and  so  great  a  man  for  so  many 
hours.  He  joined  in  all  the  light  talk  which  floated 
round  the  table,  and  seemed  to  encourage  it  (I  say  light, 
only  as  the  reverse  of  serious  or  solemn)  ;  but  at  moments 
he  sank  his  head,  as  if  deep  in  thought,  and  there  came 
over  his  very  remarkable  features  such  a  painful  expres- 
sion of  severe  abstraction  that  it  was  almost  startling  to 
witness.— He  is  a  wonderful  man  in  every  point  of  view : 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      143 

and  the  only  one  I  ever  discoursed  with,  whom,  entirely 
loving.  I  felt  I  could  not  at  all  approach  ;  I  scarcely  know 
how  to  explain  myself ;  but  if  you  knew  him  you  would 
nod  assent,  and  require  no  explanation.  He  certainly 
cannot  but  feel  that  the  habitual  abiding  place  of  his 
thoughts  is  where  no  common  mind  could  follow.  Wish- 
ing to  know  his  mind  well,  would  be  like  wishing  to  keep 
company  with  an  eagle,  whose  joy  is  to  soar  up  the 
sunbeam,  and  whose  dwelling  place  is  the  pathless  rock. 
....  He  was  so  kind,  at  my  request,  as  to  write  some 
words  for  me  at  the  end  of  a  beautiful  Greek  Testament 
I  use.  Perhaps  you  will  like  to  know  the  words  he 
chose ;  they  are  from  Habakkuk  iii.  17,  18. 

"  Your  kind  partiality  encourages  me  to  hope  you  will 
not  think  me  playing  the  egotist  too  much,  if  I  give  you 
an  account  of  the  studies  of  last  Term. 

"  Old  Aristotle  I  like  better  as  I  understand  him  more ; 
but  he  requires  a  very  peculiar  and  careful  study.  I 
mean  to  give  him  both  in  due  time  ;  at  present  I  wish 
to  go  over  my  work,  and  I  have  still  Plato  and  Juvenal, 
and  Virgil,  and  Tacitus — unbroken  ground !  .  .  .  .  But 
the  studies  I  give  my  heart  to,  are  those  which  directly 
or  indirectly  bear  on  the  sacred  profession ; — nor  do  I 
really  value  any  thing  else,  except  so  far  forth  as  it  bears 
on  this,  and  what  classic  reading  does  not  in  some  degree 
bear  upon  it  ?  " 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Houghton  Conquest,  Dec.  21,  1844. 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  have  been  appointed 
to  the  office  of  sub-Librarian  of  our  College  Library.  It 
is  always  held  by  an  undergraduate  for  the  actual 
Librarian,  who  is  a  non-resident  Fellow.  I  mean  to 
begin  my  Mayoralty  by  having  cases  made  for  three  or 
four  of  our  crack  books.  One  is  Inigo  Jones's  copy  of 
Palladio,  the  margin  of  which  he  has  jilted  with  his  MS. 
notes.  Another  is  a  curious  volume  bound  with  pearls  ; 
and  another  is  a  MS.  Life  of  the  Black  Prince  in  Norman  - 
French,  written  by  his  Esquire.  I  hope  some  day  I  may 


144  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBOON. 

have  the  pleasure  of  showing  you  such  of  our  Books  as 
you  may  care  to  see.  It  is  one  of  the  best  Libraries  in 
Oxford." 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TCJRNER. 

"Wore.  Coll.,  April,  1845. 

"  Then  we  called  on  Mr.  Rogers,  who  is  just  as  usual 

in  appearance He  saluted  us  with  a  speech  you 

will  recognise  as  characteristic.  '  Thank  you  for  coming 
to  see  me.  I  knew  you  were  coming  ;  so  I  had  some 
crocuses  laid  down  for  you  !  Come  and  look  at  them. 
There  they  are, — four  and  sixpenny  worth, — three  pence 
a  piece !  But  the  misfortune  is,  the  sparrows  come  and 
eat  them,  as  fast  as  the  gardener  lays  them  down.'  It 
often  strikes  me  as  such  an  odd  thing  that  rich  men  talk 
so  much  about  money, — persons  of  very  high  rank  espe- 
cially. I  always  think  it  bad  taste  ;  and,  however  con- 
venient a  commodity,  and  important  to  be  talked  very 
gravely  about  at  certain  times  and  in  certain  places,  it  is, 
generally  speaking,  a  very  uninteresting  and  disagreeable 
topic.  I  hope  I  am  not  wrong." 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"  Worcester  College,  May  23,  1 845. 

"  My  dear  Friend, — I  am  sure  you  will  sympathize 
with  my  joy  in  having  gained  the  Newdigate.  Mr.  Gres- 
well  brought  me  the  joyful  intelligence  this  afternoon  (as 
I  was  hard  at  work  on  that  most  unpoetical  of  subjects- 
Logic),  and  Garbett  confirmed  the  story  immediately 
after.  Since  which  I  have  had  a  levy  of  friends  in  my 
room  ; — but  I  steal  a  few  moments  to  waft  the  news  in  a 
quarter  whence  I  have  received  so  much  kindness — 
whither  so  many  affectionate  thoughts  so  often  tend- 
where  I  am  sure  the  news  will  impart  some  portion  of 
the  pleasure  it  has  imparted  to  myself. 

"  I  feel  very  grateful  for  this  blessing,  and  that  on  every 
account.  It  is  my  last  chance— it  is  a  sacred  subject— it 
is  the  first  poem  the  college  has  gained,  and  I  know  how 
much  pleasure  my  dearest  ones  will  feel  at  my  success. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       145 

I  shall  also  now  see  the  foundation  of  a  little  library 
laid — Bull  and  Bingham  and  Hooker,  and  a  few  more, 
all  in  smart  jackets,  flaming  some  with  the  University, 
some  with  the  College  arms See  how  I  look  for- 
ward !  But  the  truth  is,  I  am  just  emptying  my  heart  to 
you.  However,  we  have  come  to  the  bottom  of  it,  and 
the  end  of  my  story,  and  the  few  minutes  of  leisure  which 
remain,  I  will  dedicate  to  some  less  egotistical  theme." 

To  ROBERT  LAWSON,  ESQ.  (an  intimate  College  friend). 

"  Houghton  Conquest,  June  17,  1845. 

-  My  don  rest  Robert, — You  are  so  kind  as  to  allude 
to  l  Pefra,'  and  to  tell  me  of  a  few  things  which  the  hurry 
of  the  last  moment  rendered  it  quite  impossible  for  me  to 
consult  you  about,  but  which  I  wished  much  to  ask  you. 
I  should  not  be  such  an  ass  as  to  allude  to  such  a  trifle 
as  those  verses  still,  except  that  I  know  (or  am  willing 
to  believe)  that  your  partiality  for  the  writer  will  reconcile 
you  to  the  egotism  ;  or  to  recur  to  the  text  as  it  stands, 
except  that  I  have  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
poem  will  pass  through  a  second  edition — in  which  case, 
one  must,  of  course,  desire  to  remedy  as  many  blemishes 
as  possible.  In  truth,  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  learning 
that  nearly  all  the  500  which  were  first  struck  off,  were 
sold  in  one  afternoon,  so  that  next  morning  500  more 
were  printed,  and  then  the  type  was  kept  no  longer 
standing;  so  that  Macpherson  told  me  he  should  look 
for  reprinting  the  thing. 

"  Now  I  must  recur  to  the  passages  you  mention. 
What  sounded  like  '  public '  (you  rascal  for  alluding  to 
Trafalgar  Square !)  I  meant  for  '  bubbling,' — and  am  glad 
to  find  your  taste  accords  with  mine.  If  the  line  ever  is 
reprinted,  it  shall  be  'bubbling6,' — which  I  altered  to 
'  babbling '  at  Shairp's  suggestion.  So  of  '  sail'd '  for 

'    ••  Who  many  a  time  art  well  And    small   birds   sing,    and 

content  to  stray  bubbling  fountains  play." 

Where  garden-alleys  quench  'Petra,'  lines  7,  8,  9. 
the  blaze  of  day, 

VOL.  I.  L 


146  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

1  swam7,'  and  '  Saints'  for  'Angels8' — all  of  which  I  shall 
put  back  as  they  were  originally.  There  is  more  euphony 
in  '  Saints  impatient '  than  '  Angels  eager,' — especially  as 
in  the  next  line  '  gates '  is  meant  to  balance  '  Saints ' — still, 
for  the  sacred  text's  sake,  and  because  we  both  rather 
prefer  it,  I  alter  that  also. 

"  And  now,  I  bid  goodbye  to  a  subject  I  am  growing 
heartily  sick  of.  I  have  received  such  an  immense  num- 
ber of  letters,  and  many  such  silly  ones,  all  about  that 
one  short  silly  poem,  that  it  will  be  quite  pleasant  to 
hear  of  something  new.  To  say  nothing  of  a  letter  I  got 
from  a  mad  lady,  one  informed  me  that  Oxford  ought  to  be 
proud  of  me ! ! ! — a  class  of  remark  which  is  really  enough 
to  bring  tears  of  laughter  into  the  eyes  of  a  dead  cat. 
....  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  kindness  and 
chastened  assurances  of  kind  remembrance  which  my 
success  has  brought  me  from  many  cherished  quarters 
was  worth  writing  a  hundred  ' Petras'  for;  and  I  am 
willing  to  hope  that  it  is  having  the  effect  of  watering 
and  keeping  green  my  name  in  other  places  besides, 
where  I  should  be  very  sorry  for  it  ever  to  be  forgotten. 

I  hope  in  three  weeks  to  finish  Herodotus,  and  then  to 
give  Thucydides  a  month.  Then  Livy,  and  after  him 
I  suppose  I  must  race  over  my  plays:  but  (to  speak 
gravely)  I  hardly  feel  quite  strong — and  great  as  I  know 
the  responsibility,  and  keen  as  I  feel  the  incentive  to  be, 
I  tire  sadly  over  my  work,  and  am  shocked  to  perceive 
how  much  more  graces  of  style,  pathetic  pieces  of  narra- 
tive, and  touches  of  nature  strike  me,  than  the  names  of 
people  and  places,  and  such  things  as  get  men  first  and 
second  classes  in  the  schools. 

"  Since  we  have  nothing  better  to  write  about,  and  I 
am  determined  to  write  you  a  good  long  letter,  I  will  beg 
you  to  notice,  as  an  example  of  the  nature  and  pathos  of 

7  "  For  ships  of  Petra  swam  on  eager  to  unfurl 

every  tide."  The  twelve  broad  gates,— and 

'Petra'  line  226.  ev'ry  gate  a  pearl." 

"The    twelve   bright   Angels,  'Pet™,'  lines  357,  358. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       147 


Herodotus,  one  or  two  trifles.  I  suppose  the  Book  in 
your  hands — I.  112:  observe  how  the  mother  keeps  back 
the  alternative  of  exposing  even  the  dead  child,  till  she 
finds  her  husband  inexorable,  and  then  solacing  herself 
with  the  thought  of  the  ^00-1X77177  TCK/JTJ!"  [royal  burial9] 
"  ....  I.  1 19  :  observe  the  touching  incident,  /ecu  dyaA.a/3ow 
TO  AoiTra  T£>V  Kptb)i\  '  gathering  up  the  relics  of  what  had 

been  his  child  * ! '  and  the  words  which  follow I.  1 22 : 

the  natural  love  of  the  child  for  his  mother,  or  rather, 
her  who  had  supplied  a  mother's  place  to  him — '  He  was 
always  going  on  about  her,  and  could  talk  of  nothing  but 
Cyno2' ....  and  to  give  only  one  example  more,  I.  136  ; 
after  which  1 37  begins, '  Now  I  like  this  custom  3 !'....  But 
enough  of  my  Books,  which  now  occupy  all  my  thoughts. 
"  About  Mr.  Newman  I  have  indeed  felt  most  deeply.  I 
believe  the  story  you  have  heard  is  not  quite  the  true  one ; 
but  of  course  no  one  can  pretend  to  know  anything  with 


9  Cyrus,  when  an  infant,  was 
ordered  by  Astyages  his  grandfather, 
who  had  been  made  apprehensive 
by  a  dream  that  Cyrus  would  one 
day  reign  in  his  stead,  to  be  exposed 
upon  a  mountain  infested  by  wild 
beasts,  and  a  herdsman  was  com- 
manded to  execute  the  royal  orders. 
He  would  have  done  so,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  entreaties  of  his  wife, 
who  had  just  been  delivered  of  & 
still-born  child,  and  suggested,  that 
the  still-born  child  might  be  ex- 
posed, and  the  little  Cyrus  brought 
up  by  her  husband  and  herself,  as  if 
he  had  been  their  own.  "  In  this 
way,"  she  said,  "  we  shall  not  be 
taking  bad  counsel  for  ourselves ; 
for  the  dead  child  will  receive  a 
royal  burt«//,and  the  living  one  will 
not  lose  his  life." 

1  Astyages,  infuriated  with  Har- 
pagus,  one  of  his  courtiers,  for  not 
having  made  sure  that  the  infant 
Cyrus  wa*  p-.-.t  to  death,  punished 


him  by  serving  up  to  him  at  a  Royal 
Banquet  the  flesh  of  his  own  son, 
and  after  he  had  eaten  it,  shewing 
him  the  child's  head,  hands,  and 
feet.  Harpagus  did  not  at  the 
moment  remonstrate,  but  contented 
himself  with  gathering  up  whit 
remained  of  his  son's  body  for 
honourable  burial. 

3  This  is  said  of  Cyrus,  when  he 
first  joined  his  own  parents,  Cam- 
byses  and  Mandane,  but  still  could 
not  forget  the  affection  shewn  him 
by  his  foster-mother  '  Cyno,'  the 
herdsman's  wife. 

3  The  Persian  custom,  which 
Herodotus  says  he  likes,  i?,  that 
"  before  a  child  is  five  years  old,  he 
never  comes  in  sight  of  his  father ; 
but  passes  his  time  with  the  women  ; 
which  is  done  for  this  purpose,  that 
should  he  die  while  yet  an  infant, 
he  may  not  cause  any  grief  to  his 
father." 


L  2 


148  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

«reat  certainty  about  his  intentions.  It  is  ray  belief  that 
he  will  entirely  quit  us.  My  belief  is  equally  strong  that 
Pusey  will  not.  A  keen  blow  indeed  either  would  be  (I 
say,  '  would  be,'  for  why  should  one  not  hope  against 
hope  ?).  Still,  if  one  may  use  profane  words  concerning 
holy  things,  one  may  surely  say  of  our  holy  branch  of 
the  Church  Catholic,  as  the  spirit  of  Pytho  said  of  his 
treasure  of  old  time, 'ATTO2  Uaros  flvat  rS>v  ea>urou  TrpoKa- 
rija-dat "  [he  himself  was  sufficient  to  guard  his  own  pro- 
perty 4]  :  "  nor  need  we  be  too  unhappy  at  anything  that 
may  befall  it  from  without.  What  I  grieve  for  is,  to 
think  how  such  a  defection  would  undo  all,  or  much,  of 
the  good  (not  all  of  course)  which  has  been  done.  Who, 
for  example,  could  appeal  to  Jeremy  Taylor's  writings, 
or  Laud's,  or  Hooker's,  if  they  had  died  in  the  Romish 
Communion1?  ....  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  N.  has  met  with  cruel  treatment — enough  to 
demoralize  a  saint,  if  that  were  possible.  Persecuted, 
hunted  down,  silenced,  and  abused  in  his  silence  ;  mis- 
represented when  he  has  spoken,  and  reviled  when  he 
has  refused  to  speak.  In  short,  one  can  wonder  at  nothing. 
Still,  it  would  have  been  a  more  glorious  thing  to  have 
subsided  into  the  quiet  curate,  or  remained  the  rector, 
who  would  read,  but  never  preach,  or  even  to  have 
remained  silent  at  Littlemore,  except  by  the  occasional 
production  of  some  work  of  vast  learning,  research,  and 
labour,  instead  of  turning  in  disgust  from  his  Mother ! 
....  One  is,  however,  perhaps  chalking  out  a  course  ov 

/car'  avQpa-nov Anyhow,  our  course  is  clear.    Through 

good  and  ill  report  to  stick  to  our  colours,  praying  for 

4  This  has  reference  to  the  answer  was  sufficient  to  guard  his  own  pro- 
given  by  the  Oracle  at  Delphi,  when  perty.  The  answer  would  be  given 
Xerxes  sent  a  division  of  his  army  by  the  Pythoness  or  Priestess  of 
to  sack  the  temple,  and  bring  to  the  Temple.  Burgon  represents  her 
him  all  the  accumulated  treasures  as  speaking  under  the  influence  of 
found  there.  In  answer  to  the  the  same  "spirit  of  divination" 
Delphians,  who  consulted  theOraele,  (literally,  spirit  of  Python)  which 
as  to  whether  they  should  bury  the  possessed  the  damsel  in  the  Acts  of 
treasures  or  transport  them  else-  the  Apostles.  See  Acts  xvi.  16  (and 
where,  the  Deity  forbad  them  to  marg^.  The  story  is  told  by  Hero- 
be  moved,  saying  that  he  himself  dotus,  Urania,  Lib.  viii.  Cap.  36. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       149 

sweet  tempers  and  strong  hearts  (if  need  be) :  advancing 
nothing  one  does  not  feel  sure  of;  and  when  once  ad- 
vanced, dying  rather  than  recalling.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  with  you,  that  a  fiery  trial  is  at  hand.  When  it 
comes.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  (>"/•  /</•'•//>/,  our  monstrous, 
culpable  laxity,  will  prove  almost  our  ruin.  Why  will 
our  clergy,  aye,  or  our  laity  either,  dine  out  on  Fridays  ? 
\Vhy  do  we  keep  no  Lent?  Why  do  we  neglect,  so  reck- 
li  >>ly,  many  of  the  rubrics  in  the  Communion  Service? 
Why  do  the  clergy  ape  the  laity,  instead  of  showing 
themselves,  what  they  really  are,  above  them  ?  Why  is 
there  not  daily  Service  in  every  considerable  town  in  the 
land,  more  frequent  Communions,  larger  alms  given,  and 
the  <  'huivh  made  the  almoner?  Till  we  all — every  one 
of  us,  you  and  I — strain  every  nerve  to  change  the  exist- 
ing state  of  things,  we  cannot  call  ourselves  safe.  I  will 
add  one  final  question.  How  can  the  clergy  go  up  to 
their  beds,  or  allow  their  temples  to  rest  (I  forget  the 
exact  words),  while  a  large  section  of  every  village  in  the 
kingdom  lies  practically  excommunicate  ?  My  very  heart 
boils  within  me  when  I  think  of  the  supineness  of  our 
people ;  and  with  all  this  to  have  the  coolness  to  regard 
ourselves  as  perfect  and  immaculate.  '  Perfect! 

"Many  thanks  for  telling  me  about  dear  Temple  5,  who 
is  very  dear  to  me.  I  quite  understand  your  allusions  to 
his  character,  and  believe  more  and  more  every  day  that 
we  know  (I  mean  that  men  know)  very  little  of  one 
another.  It  is  curious  to  think  this.  That  men  should 
be  living  side  by  side,  and  speaking  freely,  and  able  to 
speak  all  they  choose,  and  yet  that  there  should  be  a  wall 
built  up  between  them  (so  to  speak),  so  that  they  never 
really  get  at  one  another !  He  is  a  very  delightful  cha- 
racter. It  has  long  been  at  my  heart,  and  many  a  time 
given  me  a  strange  pang  to  remember,  on  leaving  him, 
that  something  I  have  said  may  give  him  annoyance  or 

0  The  present  Bishop  of  London.  Bishop,  if  it  were  only  for  the  pur- 

The  writer  thinks  it  well  to  print  pose  of  shewing  the  compatibility  of 

one  out  of  the  numerous  testimonies  such  personal  affection  with  contro- 

borne   by  Burgon's   letters    to   his  versial  antagonism  to  some  of  the 

warm    personal    affection    for    the  views  entertained  by  the  object  of  it. 


150  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

pain.     I  can  only  say  I  would  never  breathe  a  word  to 
hurt  him,  or  any  one  I  love. 

"  Your  affectionate  Friend. 

"JOHN    W.    BURGON." 

To  ROBERT  LAWSON,  ESQ. 

(Mr.  Lawson  had  consulted  him,  it  appears,  on  the  best 
method  of  instructing  a  backward  pupil  in  Divinity.) 

"Houghton  Conquest,  Sept.  18,  1845. 
"  i  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"  You  will  need  no  assurance,  I  trust,  my  dearest 
Robert,  that  I  read  and  m-ead  your  affectionate  and 
interesting  long  letter  with  much  satisfaction.  I  am  the 
more  sorry  to  perceive,  on  recurring  to  it  now,  that 
I  have  omitted  by  my  long  silence  responding  to  the 
wish  you  expressed  for  a  few  hints  as  to  drilling  Divinity 
into  a  heterodox  bear !  I  never  yet  kept  a  menagerie  of 
in  v  own  ; — and  should  therefore  look  for  hints  to  you— 
still,  since  you  ask  it,  and  there  are  three  or  four  weeks 
more  of  the  Vacation,  I  will  devote  half  a  page,  late  in 
the  day  as  it  is,  to  so  precious  a  theme.  My  plan,  then, 
would  be,  I  suppose,  much  such  as  you  must  have  fol- 
lowed yourself.  Genesis  must  be  read  witli  particular 
care,  and  can  easily  be  remembered  as  a  story.  The  ten 
generations  from  Adam  to  Noah,  and  ten  again  from 
Shem  to  Abraham,  are  obvious  land  marks.  With  the 
last  named,  the  History  more  decidedly  begins,  and  the 
pedigree  from  Terah  to  the  twelve  Patriarchs  must  ab- 
solutely be  got  by  heart.  Then  let  the  places  of  Moses 
and  Aaron  be  ascertained  in  the  pedigree ;  and  condense 
the  four  ensuing  books  into  a  view  of  the  several  offences 
of  the  people,— and  their  consequent  punishments;  for 
instance : 

i.  Murmuring  at  Taberah,        punished  by  fire. 

2-  »  Kibroth  Hattaavah    „  *  plague. 

3-  »>  Hazeroth  „       leprosy. 
and  so  on.    You  will  be  helped  to  this  by  Psalms  Ixxviii. 
and  cvi.,  and  see  i  Cor.  x. 

\  ou  must  also,  of  course,  lay  stress  on  the  delivery  of  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      151 

Law,  and  the  institution  of  the  Levitical  priesthood, 
and  pick  out  such  parts  of  the 

Moral  law    .  Deut.  iv.  to  xi. 

.  ,  ...          .  as  may  impress 

Ceremonial  .       „      xn.  to  xvi.       > 

...  .       your  pupil  with  its 

Civil   ...       „     xvii.  to  xxvi.  )  J 

character — so  singularly  tempered  with  mercy,  that  the 
very  nest  of  young  birds  is  made  an  object  of  the  Divine 
solicitude  [Deut.  xxii.  6.  /].  Then  determine  in  your 
own  mind  the  principal  typical  persons  and  typical 
things:  e.g.  Adam,  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  Isaac,  Joseph, 
Moses,  Joshua,  &c.,  the  Ark,  the  Deluge,  the  Jewish 
feasts,  the  Exode,  &c.  Next,  the  great  prophecies  (which 
should  be  learnt  by  heart), — I  mean  that  to  Adam,  to 
Noah,  to  Abraham,  Balaam's,  and  the  like. 

"  The  places  occupied  by  the  twelve  tribes  on  settling 
under  Joshua,  their  six  servitudes  and  thirteen  Judges 
(especially  those  six  that  delivered  them  from  the  six  ser- 
vitudes respectively), — this  brings  you  to  the  time  of 
Samuel. — whose  personal  history  is  easily  taught.  In- 
deed, with  him  j/rophecy  and  royalty  begin,  and  a  new 
epoch,  as  it  were,  opens.  Saul's  character  may  be  nicely 
gathered  from  Newman's  Sermon — David's  whole  history 
should  form  the  subject  of  a  briei  analysis  by  your  pupil, 
— making  him  pick  out  the  pedigree  from  St.  Luke6, 
or  the  B.  of  Chronicles  (for  the  sake  of  Rahab  and 
Ruth,  &c.).  Solomon's  sin,  and  the  rending  of  the  king- 
dom, with  the  date  of  Israel's  and  Judah's  captivity,  are 
the  skefafon  of  all  that  remains.  For  Jeroboam  s  character 
make  him  read  Newman's  Sermon :  and  let  him  off  with 
the  histories  of  the  most  memorable  of  the  kings,  only — 
as  Ahab,  Hezekiah,  and  the  like. — But  why  all  this  irpos 
flooras  "  [to  persons  who  know  it]  "'?....  I  should  per- 
haps rather  say  at  once — pick  out  in  st 'rings,  the  main 
dates, — the  main  types, — the  main  prophecies, — the  chief 
persons — however  briefly  : — insist  on  his  remembering 
the  great  divisions  of  the  subject, — and  coax  him  to  in- 

6  Though  Burgon  has  written  "  St.  whose  genealogy,  and  not  in  St. 
Luke/'  one  is  disposed  to  think  he  Luke's,  Rahab  and  Kuth  are  men- 
must  have  meant  St.  Matthew,  in  tioned,  ch.  i.  r.  5. 


152  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

sert  into  each  the  most  salient  events  and  picturesque 
passages. — Alas,  this  is  impossible,  I  know,  with  a  block- 
head ; but  what  more  delightful  when  there  is  the  best 

desire  on  the  learner's  part  1  .  .  .  With  such  a .  pupil  I 
should  insist  on  his  recollecting  for  me  off-hand  the 
Jirst  mention  of  angels,  money,  monuments,  writing,  altars, 
&c.,  &c.  ;  the  history  of  every  place  (ab  ovo),  as  Bethel, 
Shechem,  Jericho :  the  great  men  of  each  tribe  (for  who 
recollects  off-hand  that  with  regard  to  Benjamin,  for 
instance,  Gen.  xlix.  27  was  probably  fulfilled  in  the  per- 
sons of  Saul  and  St.  Paul  1  Who  recollects  that  the 
prophet  Samuel  was  descended  from  Korah  ?  or  that 
Samuel's  grandson  wrote  so  many  of  the  Psalms — e.  g. 
Ps.  Ixxxviii  ? 7). 

To  MR.  DAWSOX  TURNER. 

"Oxford,  Nov.  22,  1845. 

"  My  dear  Friend, — 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  with  what  glee  I  saw  the  days  of 
tiwlo  in  the  Schools  glide  away,  and  the  list  of  subjects 
for  examination  growing  '  fine  by  degrees  and  beautifully 
less ' ;  till  nothing  remained  but  the  day  of  viva  voce. 
Yet,  how  capricious  the  heart  is !.....  I  seem  to  care 
no  more  about  it,  now  I  am  through,  than  if  I  were  still 
an  undergraduate.  This  is  partly  owing  to  the  feelings 
which  naturally  arise  on  such  an  occasion.  I  only  gave 
in  eleven  books  for  examination, — because  I  felt  I  knew 
them.  I  had  read  enough  Plato  for  a  book,  and  was 
urged  to  take  up  Virgil  at  a  venture  ; — but  the  conscious- 
ness that  I  had  not  read  the  latter  since  I  was  at  school, 
and  that  I  had  not  a  sufficient  accuracy  of  acquaintance 
with  the  former  to  stand  an  examination  in  it.  made  me 
reject  both  from  my  list.  Accordingly,  feeling  that  I  had, 

7  This  Psalm  is  attributed  in  the  two  names,  Joel  and  Vashni.     See 

title  to  "  Heman  the  Ezrahite."  In  i  Chron.  vi.  28,  with  i  Sam.  viii.  2. 

i  Chron.  vi.  33  we  read  "Of  the  That  Samuel  was   a  Korahite,    or 

sons  of  the  Kohathites :  Heman  a  descended  from  the  Korah  branch 

singer,  the  son  of  Joel,  the  son  of  of  the  Levitical  family,  is  shown  by 

Shemuel."     Shemuel  is  merely  the  comparing  i  Chron.  vi.  33  with  v. 

Hebrew  form  of  the  name  Samuel ;  37  of  the  same  Chapter, 
and   Samuel's  eldest   son  went  by 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  FIRST  PERIOD.       1 5  3 

as  it  were,  earned  my  degree,  I  seem  to  have  only  got  my 
due — and  scarcely  that; — for  Herodotus  was  scarce  of 
any  service  to  me — and  two  of  the  books  I  had  mastered 
most  completely,  Aristophanes  and  ^schylus,  I  was 
merely  tried  in,  to  the  extent  of  some  ten  or  twenty 
lines;  so  that,  instead  of  rejoicing,  I  now  rather  wish  I 
might  go  in  again.  The  whole  examination  went  against 
me.  I  had  got  up  a  great  deal  of  formal  Logic  and' 
Science  ; — and  the  questions  set  were  almost  all  such  as 
a  man  might  answer  who  had  read  the  Ethics  in  a  trans- 
lation, and  drunk  deeply  of  modern  Metaphysics.  Then, 
//<•/•  nmlrn,  there  were  some  capital  things  for  translation  ; 
and  I  was  required  on  the  public  day  to  translate  on 
paper  the  first  Chorus  in  the  CEdipus  Coloneus,  which 
was  of  course  ihe  thing  I  should  have  chosen.  The  Essay 
too  was  on  a  capital  subject, — the  history  of  Greek 

Poetry In  short  there  was  nothing  that  I  regret 

but  the  unfairness  of  the  induction  that  is  sure  to  be 

made  concerning  me If  they  estimate  me  by  what 

I  did  best,  I  know  where  they  would  put  me ;  if  they 
look  at  the  shadows, — the  worst  things  done, — I  also 
know  where  I  ought  to  be,  and  as  I  think  of  one  cr  the 
other,  I  feel  unhappy,  or  at  ease  ; — so  that,  as  I  began  by 
saying,  my  Bachelor's  gown  is  by  no  means  a  panacea 
for  all  the  past. 

"  I  cannot,  however,  fully  realise  the  notion  that  the 
heavy  labour  I  was  going  through  till  Ash  Wednesday  is 
all  ended.  It  seems  impossible  that  I  may  go  to  bed  at 
twelve,  it'  I  like  ;  that  I  may  breakfast  without  Butler's 
sermons  before,  or  take  tea  without  reading  so  many 
hundred  lines  of  a  Greek  play  ;  nay,  that  I  may  break- 
fast or  dine  when  I  please.  Even  Magazines  and  Reviews 
are  open  to  me  now,  which  they  have  not  been  for  the 
last  three  years  ....  How  rny  health  has  stood  it,  I  can- 
not understand.  I  did  not  let  any  one  know  how  I  was 
going  on ; — but  fear  I  was,  at  last,  acting  as  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  ine  to  have  gone  on  acting. 
For  many  weeks  past  I  have  not  had  five  hours  sleep — 
and  in  order  to  read  without  molestation,  abridged  myself 
in  food  and  exercise  to  the  minimum  point  (consistent 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

with  comfort).  The  very  eve  of  going  in  for  viva  race,  I 
read  for  nineteen  hours  without  stirring  except  to  chapel : 
and  yet,  though  I  only  slept  from  four  till  seven,  I  was 
as  fresh,  and  as  full  of  spirits,  as  if  some  strange  joy 
animated  "  (awaited  ?)  "  me,  instead  of  a  serious  trial.  In 
truth  I  have  been  in  a  most  unnatural  state  for  a  long 
time,  and  suppose  I  must  not  be  surprised  if  I  feel  the 
effects  of  it  by-and-by. 

<;  My  public  examination  will,  I  fear,  tell  heavily 
against  me.  As  long  as  Mr.  Liddell  tried  me  in  Divinity 
and  Science,  all  went  well.  When  he  resigned  me  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Daman,  the  spell  was 
broken.  The  evening  was  drawing  in  ;  I  felt  giddy  and 
tired ;  and  with  scarce  enough  light  to  read  by,  I  was 
requested  to  start  with  the  last  three  lines  of  a  chapter 
in  the  third  Book  of  the  Annals  of  Tacitus8.  I  could 
scarce  see  the  sentence  (as  he  was  civil  enough  to  per- 
ceive), and  he  bade  me  close  the  book.  '  Who  iras 
Silanus  ?  '  I  could  not  remember.  '  WTell,  never  mind. 
Who  was  '  somebody  else  ?  I  could  have  almost  jumped 
over  the  table  with  vexation.  He  made  a  stand  at  the 
history  of  the  gem  Mnilia,  and  the  history  of  Tegea  during 
the  Peloponnesian  War.  I  must  have  appeared  to  him  a 

complete  idiot Against  this  I  set  (in  my  mind)  my 

paper  work.  What  kind  of  average  THEY  mean  to  strike, 
I  cannot  divine.— If  it  is  disgraceful,  you  will  not  hear  it 
from  me." 

To  MR.  DAWSON  TURNER. 

"Oxford,  26  Nov.,  1845. 

"  My  dear  Friend,— I  am  very  sorry  I  have  not  better 
news  to  send  you.  If  the  Examiners  had  been-»»  me, 
they  would  have  given  me  a  First  Class.  To  judge  from 
my  papers,  I  had  perhaps  no  right  to  hope  for  more  than  a 

•  Probably  the  Chapter  was  xxiv,  was  allowed  by  Tiberius  to  return 

in  the  last  sentence  of  which  Decius  from  exile,  and  to  live  in  Home  as 

Silanus  is  mentioned,  who,  at   the  a  private  citizen, 
intercession  of  his  brother  Marcus, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       155 

second.  But  the  report  had  got  abroad  that  I  was  to 
have  been  at  the  top  of  the  tree  ;  and  I  am  conscious  that 
the  poicer  is  not  lacking. — and  so  I  cannot  but  feel  a 
little  crest-fallen. 

•'  When  you  consider,  however,  that  it  is  exactly  the 
fifteenth  Term  since  I  opened  my  books,  that  during  the 
interval,  I  have  devoted  three  months  to  writing  for  as 
many  prize  poems,  and  that  everything  in  the  Schools 
has  gone  against  me.  it  will  not  appear  strange." 

To  MRS.  Hi  ;ii  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  Dec.  18,  1848. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Rose. — 

"I  have  been  reading  attentively  for  Examination, 
as  you  will  scarcely  require  to  be  told:  and  am  now 
at  the  very  close  of  my  reading,  which  is  still  far,  very 
far  from  what  I  had  intended.  How  unfortunate  it 
is  that  one  should  be  compelled  to  pass  the  season 
immediately  previous  to  Ordination  in  what  feels  so 
secular  a  process — the  cramming  in,  namely,  of  facts ; 
and  taking  hasty  surveys  of  pleasant  fields  of  inquiry, 
which  might  well  occupy  one  for  weeks  or  months !  those 
surveys  too  not  being,  unfortunately,  devotional  or  even 
practical,  but  simply  speculative,  and  with  a  constant 
view  to  (li*ij!ay.  I  heartily  wish  the  Examination  over. 
Without  fearing  it  exactly,  I  can"  (cannot?)  "but  feel 
painfully  conscious  of  my  weak  points,  and  look  for- 
ward with  anything  but  satisfaction  to  those  days  to  be 
passed  athletically, — grappling  with  questions  which 
have  shaken  Christendom,  and  of  which  I  know  but  one 
aspect,  or  writing  sermons  addressed  to  nobody,  and 

therefore  all  about  nothing It  will  be  soon  over, 

however,  and  a  period  of  peace  will  succeed. 

"  You  will,  I  am  very  sure,  remember  me  as  I  would 
wish  to  be  remembered  at  this  solemn  season !  How 
solemn  it  is  to  me,  I  need  hardly  tell  you.  When  I  think 
that  much  of  my  prosperity  in  Holy  Orders  may  perhaps 
depend  on  the  spirit,  and  temper  in  which  I  present 
myself  to  receive  the  Gift,  I  quite  sink  into  myself. 
Then  the  review  of  my  past  life,  though  not  terrible  to 


156  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

me  (thanks  to  God's  mercy,  which  has  always  kept  me 
back),  is  yet  so  full  of  painful  recollections  ; — I  am  con- 
scious to  myself  of  so  many  wrongnesses  thought,  or 
done,  so  many  duties  left  undone,  that  I  could  half  per- 
suade myself  that  it  is  not  for  me  to  counsel  others  :  that 
I  had  better  first  be  what  I  wish  to  make  the  flock  of 
Christ ;  and  so  shrink  away  from  the  thing  I  have  all  my 
life  so  longed  for ;  and  which,  even  while  I  am  so  con- 
scious of  my  own  unworthiness,  I  do,  nevertheless,  so 
earnestly  desire  to  obtain  ....  You  will,  I  am  sure,  bear 
with  my  egotism,  and  kindly  understand  what  I  would 
say,  and  what  I  cannot  but  feel.  The  many  years  I  have 
waited, — the  unexpected  delays, — and  now  at  last  the 
certainty  that  the  whole  thing  is  drawing — has  drawn — 
into  sight, — is  all  but  here,  and  in  another  week  will  be 
numbered  with  the  things  which  are  past ; — thinking  of 
all  this  fills  me  with  conflicting  thoughts.  Hope  and 
fear,  joy  and  regret — a  bright  anticipation  overwhelmed 
with  a  hundred  misgivings,— such  (as  well  as  my  weary 
hand  and  aching  head  can  between  them  paint  it) — such 
is  a  true  picture  of  what  I  have  been  experiencing  for 
the  last  few  weeks ;  and  which  neither  Heresies  nor 
Councils,  Creeds  nor  Articles,  Patriarchates  nor  Anti- 
paedo-baptism,  avail  to  banish  from  my  thoughts  for 
many  minutes  together. 

Smile,  if  you  will ;— but  I  must  tell  you  of  another  scheme 
which,  after  floating  in  and  out  of  my  head  for  years,  at 
last  takes  shape ; — and  I  propose  to  carry  it  out  imme- 
diately after  Christmas :— a  series  of  cheap  religious 
prints  for  the  poor.  I  mean  to  start  it  in  Rose's  and  my 
joint  names  (Oxford  and  Cambridge), — to  get  guinea 
subscribers  (clergy  mostly,  of  course), — and  promise  so 
many  shilling  numbers  ....  Tell  me  whether  you  approve 
t  will  be  thoroughly  Anglican,  without  being 
absurdly  Protestant— e.g.  I  shall  have  the  Blessed  Virgin 
and  Child  more  than  once :  on  the  other  hand,  I  shall 
ignore  all  Saints  save  the  Twelve  Apostles  .  .  .  The  point 
wherein  I  trust  for  success  is  the  cheapness  and  smallne** 
of  the  pictures.  I  associate  dear  Rose  with  myself  as  a 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      157 

joint  guarantee  to  the  public,  as  a  compliment  to  him, 
dear  fellow,  and  as  a  good  adviser.  But  as  I  have  not 
hinted  the  thing  to  him  yet,  nor  have  I  talked  of  it  to 
any  save  Parker  (and  one  or  two  private  friends),  you 
will,  of  course,  keep  the  little  scheme  at  present  to  your 
<>\vn  good  self ....  I  prefer  talking  to  Rose  about  this,— 
instead  of  writing, — since  I  shall  be  with  him  so  soon." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"34,  Osnaburgh  Street,  5  Jan.,  1849. 

"  My  dear  Bishop  °, — I  take  to  myself  no  small  blame 
for  having  kept  you  so  long  in  the  dark  as  to  my 
movements.  You  knew  that  I  was  going  to  be 
ordained  on  Xmas  Eve  from  myself,  and  should  not 
have  been  indebted  to  the  public  prints  for  the  in- 
formation that  I  duly  received  the  Gift  which  I  had  so 
long  wished  for. 

"  But  you  will,  I  know,  have  made  excuses  for  me. 
You  will  easily  guess  that  I  must  have  fallen  into  the 
midst  of  a  busy  cheerful  circle,  and  that  there  was  no 
time  for  letter  writing.  You  may  even  have  shrewdly 
divined  that  I  was  asked  immediately  to  preach  a 
sermon,  and  accordingly  had  to  write  one.  Two  ser- 
mons, if  you  please — for  my  second  bantling  is  lying 
before  me.  This  in  truth  has  been  the  history  of  my 
.-iU-nce. 

"  But  now  I  must  tell  you  a  little  about  Cuddesdon 
and  my  Ordination — the  most  memorable  event  in  my 
very  uneventful  life.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  I  tell 
my  selfish  tale  to  the  same  indulgent  ear  which  has  so 
often  encouraged  me  to  be  garrulous  in  my  own  behalf. 

-  We  went  to  Cuddesdon  then,  on  Thursday  —  and 
attended  Divine  Service  in  the  Parish  Church  which 
adjoins  the  Bishop's  garden.  Trench  preached  (S. 
Thomas'  Day).  .  .  .  We  then  returned  to  examination, 
which  commenced  with  some  translation  from  Hooker 
into  the  most  judicious  Latin  we  could  muster.  Next 

9  He  calls  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose  "Bishop,"  and  sometimes  "your 
Lordship,"  after  his  wont,  jocosely. 


158  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

came  a  paper  of  New  Testament  questions.  Then 
some  luncheon  or  a  walk — according  to  our  notions  of 
Ember  week.  Then  a  paper  of  Old  Testament  ques- 
tions— and  lastly  a  Sermon.  We  were  very  tired  when 
we  went  to  dress  at  six.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  attend 
the  peaceful  and  soothing  service  in  the  palace  Chapel 
—  where  we  thenceforward  met,  morning  and  even- 
ing, till  our  departure.  It  is  a  very  exquisite  little 
edifice,  adjoining  the  palace,  in  most  perfect  taste. 
The  windows  are  the  gift  of  the  Queen,  Prince  Albert, 
and  other  great  folks.  ...  At  the  Bishop's  side  was 
his  pastoral  staff.  I  assure  you  nothing  could  have 
been  more  Episcopal  —  or  if  I  may  use  the  word,  more 
Apostolic,  than  his  bearing — and  the  same  impress  was 
recognisable  in  every  arrangement,  down  to  the  minutest 
appointments  of  the  household. 

"  Next  day,  Friday,  we  had  (as  on  Thursday  night) 
an  extempore  Charge,  and  resumed  our  examination. 
We  had  papers  on  Doctrine,  Liturgical  and  Historical 
matters,  and  next  day  a  paper  of  very  well  chosen 
parochial  questions. 

"  It  was  impossible  not  to  admire  the  Bishop's  tact. 
On  Thursday  after  dinner  (which  followed  Chapel 
immediately)  —  and  on  Friday  after  the  less  substan- 
tial repast — at  which  we  all  (about  fifty  in  number) 
were  assembled,  as  soon  as  the  servants  had  with- 
drawn, the  Bishop  raised  his  voice  and  his  head,  and 
in  the  cleverest  manner  possible  made  the  conversa- 
tion general.  He  addressed  a  remark  to  one  of  his 
chaplains,  and  speedily,  in  reply  to  the  question  of 
some  one  present,  made  some  remarks  on  ruri-decanal 
associations,  education  of  the  poor,  pravers  for  the 
lower  orders,  and  all  those  topics  which  were  sure  to 
be  most  interesting  to  those  present.  This  was  excel- 
lently well  done,  for  all  were  entertained,  all  edifed, 
and  it  was  optional  to  any  one  present  to  ask  what- 
ever questions  he  chose. 

"  I  must  also  tell  you  that  about  forty  had  beds  pro- 
vided for  them  in  the  palace,  his  plan  being  to  have 
all  the  candidates  for  his  guests.  ...  He  also  contrived 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.       159 


to  see  every  one  twice  —  some  even  three  times  —  and 
not  only  remarked  on  the  papers  (which  it  was  clear 
he  had  read\  but  discoursed  leisurely  and  kindly  on 
one's  prospects,  hopes,  wishes,  &c.,  &c.  It  really  was 
most  admirable.  .  .  .  On  the  Saturday  morning  we  all 
partook  of  the  Eucharist ;  and  in  the  evening  he  gave 
a  very  powerful  and  eloquent  charge,  one  of  a  series, 
which  when  collected  will  form  a  Commentary  on  the 
( h'dination  Service. 

"  But  how  did  you  fare  ?  asks  my  Bishop.  Why, 
my  deal*  Lord,  to  say  the  truth,  your  Lordship's  brother 
found  some  fault  with  my  doctrine.  I  believe  I  have 
imbibed  Bp.  Bull's  theory  of  Justification  and  Sancti- 
tication1,  and  I  am  assured  it  is  not  the  Anglican 

Dissertation  II,  Chap,  xviii.  §  2.] 

"  I  constantly  affirm  that  justifi- 
cation by  Divine  appointment  pre- 
supposes sanctification,  at  least  the 
primary  and  less  perfect  sanctifica- 
tion. For  God,  though  He  justify  the 
ungodly  through  Christ  (Rom.  4.  5), 
i.  e.  him,  who  having  been  such,  yet 
through  faith  and  true  repentance 
has  ceased  to  be  such,  nevertheless 
will  not  justify  the  ungodly,  Exod. 
34.  7,  i.  e.  him.  who  still  remains  in 
his  wickedness.  Briefly :  it  is  in- 
coiisi^tent  with  the  righteousness  of 
God  (as  we  have  said  elsewhere)  to 
forgive  any  man  his  sins,  and  withal 
to  give  him  a  right  to  a  heavenly 
life,  who  is  not  cleansed  from  his 
sins,  nay,  who  is  not  also  in  a  man- 
ner made  partaker  of  '  the  Divine 
nature.' "  [•  Examen  Cenxurce.'. 
Answer  to  Stricture  xx.  §  3.] 

Binhop  Wilberforce  was  always 
very  clear  and  strong  in  maintain- 
ing the  priority  of  Justification  to 
Sanctification,  and  that  the  latter 
process  could  not  commence  until 
the  sinner  had  been  justified  freely 
through  faith  in  Christ. 


1  It  may  be  convenient  to  the 
reader  to  have  this  theory  exhibited 
in  Bishop  Bull's  own  words  : — 

"  St.  Paul  rejects  from  justifica- 
tion the  following  descriptions  of 
works  :  —  1st.  Ritual  works  pre- 
scribed by  the  ceremonial  law. 
2nd.  Moral  works  performed  by 
the  natural  powers  of  man,  in  a 
state  either  of  the  law,  or  mere 
nature,  before  and  without  the  grace 
of  the  Gospel.  3rd.  Jewish  works, 
or  that  trifling  righteousness  incul- 
cated by  the  Jewish  masters.  4th 
and  lastly.  All  works  separate  from 
Christ  the  Mediator,  which  would 
obtain  eternal  salvation  by  their 
own  power,  or  without  reference  to 
the  covenant  of  grace  established 
by  the  blood  of  Christ.  .  .  .  On  the 
other  hand,  that  moral  works  aris- 
ing from  the  grace  of  the  Gospel  do, 
by  the  power  of  the  Gospel  covenant, 
efficaciously  conduce  to  the  justifica- 
tion of  man  and  his  eternal  salvation, 
and  so  are  absolutely  necessary,  St. 
Paul  not  only  does  not  deny,  but  is 
employed  almost  entirely  in  estab- 
lishing." ['  Hurmonia  Apostolica? 


i6o 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


Theory.  I  asked  what  I  had  better  read.  The  Bishop 
recommended  me  three  books— the  third  being  Luther  s 
Commentary  on  the  Galatians !  * .  .  .  However,  I  feel  a 


1  He  is  writing  to  Mrs.  Hugh 
James  Rose  in  his  usual  gay,  light- 
hearted  style.  It  must  not  be 
supposed  that  Bishop  Wilberforce 
recommended  to  him  no  other  Book 
than  '  Luther's  Commentary  on  the 
Galatians,'  or  that  he  recommended 
even  this  without  qualifications. 
For  this  is  Burgon's  notice  in  his 
private  Diary  of  his  interview  with 
the  Bishop. 

"The  Bishop  had  had  a  short 
interview  with  me  on  Friday,  ap- 
proving of  my  papers,  and  asking 
me  general  questions  of  a  personal 
and  private  kind.  To-day  he  sent 
for  me,  and  very  distinctly,  but 
kindly,  showed  me  the  incorrectness 
of  my  views  on  Justification,  Sancti- 
fication,  and  Absolution.  I  re- 
garded Sanctification  to  precede 
Justification.  The  contrary,  he 
says,  is  true.  I  supposed  (and  still 
believe)  that  Grace  is  given  in 
Baptism.  He  says,  'No,  but  the 
dead  bud  is  grafted  into  the  living 
stock, — man's  fallen  nature  into  the 
Body  of  Christ.'  All  Absolution  is 
moreover  simply  declaratory.  '  Thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee ' — spoken  by 
Christ  Himself — revealed  a  fact, 
not  made  it.  (Here  I  think  there 
is  a  fallacy.)  I  am  to  read  Jackson 
—  Hooker's  Sermon  —  Luther  on 
Galatians  (exceptis  excipiendis). 
He  bade  me  also  read  his  Charge  of 
1845" 

The  work  of  Dean  Jackson's 
prescribed  by  the  Bishop  for  Burgon 


to  read  was  no  doubt  "  his  most 
excellent  Exposition  of  the  Creed," 
(so  called  by  Izaak  Walton  in  his 
'  Life  of  Mr.  Richard  Hooker '). 
The  full  title  of  this  work  is  "  The 
Eternal  Truth  of  Scriptures,  and 
Christian  Belief  thereon  wholly  de- 
pending, manifested  by  its  own  light. 
Delivered  in  two  Books  of  Com- 
mentaries upon  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
The  former  containing  the  poultice 
grounds  of  Christian  Religion  in 
general,  cleared  from  all  escejitiiDi* 
of  Atheists  or  Infidels.  The  later, 
Manifesting  the  grounds  of  Re- 
formed Religion  to  be  so  firm  and 
sure,  that  the  Romanists  cannot 
oppugne  them,  but  with  the  nfti-r 
ovrthrow  of  the  Romish  Church, 
Religion  and  Faith.  By  Thoma* 
Jackson,  D.D.,  London,  1653." 
There  was  added  afterwards  '  The 
Third  Book  of  Comments  upon  the 
Creed'  which  deals  with  " the  blas- 
phemous positions  of  Jesuites,  and 
other  later  Romanists,concerningthe 
authority  of  their  Church."  Jack- 
son was  Master  of  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Oxford,  Dean  of  Peter- 
borough, and  a  Chaplain  of  King 
Charles  I.  The  Sermon  of  Hooker's 
prescribed  by  the  Bishop  was  the 
celebrated  "  Learned  Discourse  of 
Justification,  Works,  and  how  the 
Foundation  of  Faith  is  overthrown  " 
[Serm.  II.  Vol.  iii.  p.  601  et  se- 
quent. Ed.  Keble]  one  of  the 
standard  works  of  Anglican  Theology 
on  the  subject  of  Justification. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FIRST  PERIOD.      161 

very  dutiful  deacon,  and  mean  to  read  very  faithfully 
what  my  Bishop  has  prescribed. 

"All  this  distressed  me,  you  may  be  sure.  I  felt 
quite  crest-fallen.  In  the  midst  of  my  chagrin,  I  was 
happy  to  discover  that  the  Bishop  had  given  me  the 
post  of  honour  among  the  deacons  —  appointing  me  to 
read  the  Gospel  in  the  Cathedral.  This  was  really  a 
consolation,  and  quite  restored  my  equanimity. 

"  The  History  of  Sunday  you  can  fancy  very  well. 
All  was  most  solemn  and  reverently  managed.  Not 
like  the  Archbp.  of  York  who,  I  am  shocked  to  hear, 
walks  round  the  Communion  rails  putting  a  single 
hand  on  the  heads  of  the  kneeling  Candidates  for  Orders 

<»•/•  Bishop  sits  in  the  best  throne  the  Dean  of  Ch.  Ch. 
will  provide,  and  conveys  the  Gift  clasping  each  head 
in  his  hands.  Nothing  could  be  better  done.  ...  I  really 
must  say  the  Bp.  of  Oxford's  entire  deportment  is  truly 
Apostolical,  and  I  shall  henceforth  be  his  defender,  as 
in  duty  bound 

"  And  now  I  have  finished  my  story  and  will  be  brief 
in  concluding :  for  I  have  caught  a  severe  cold,  and  am 
weaiy  and  indisposed.  But  I  must,  tell  you  that  I  have 
thought  very  much  of  you,  dear  Mrs.  Rose,  all  through 
this  sad  season — sad  to  you,  though  joyous  to  many.  .  .  . 
I  long  very  much  to  hear  something  of  you.  I  do 
earnestly  hope  that  this  last  trial  is  not  heavier  than 
you  can  find  strength  to  bear.  .  .  .  Pray  remember  that 
that  dear  child3  is  certainly  with  him:  and  who  shall 
say  that  she  may  not  be  a  great  comfort  to  him  too  1  .  .  . 
Then  take  heart.  It  is  but  for  a  few  short  years.  God 
grant  that  we  may  all  meet  there  at  last. 

"  All  here  join  me  in  love  to  you.  I  always  ask  your 
blessing,  and  beg  to  be  remembered  as  your  obliged 
and  affectionate  Friend, 

"J.  W.  B." 

3  He  alludes  to  Josephine  Mair,  she  had  adopted,  and  whose  death 
the  orphan  daughter  of  a  brother  of  (on  Sept.  17,  1848)  was  a  great 
Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose's,  whom  grief  to  her. 

VOL.   I.  M 


1 62  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


CHAPTER  IL 

TEE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD. 

WEST  ILSLEY,  WORT  ON,  AND  FIN  MERE. 

[Dec.  24,  1848— June  6,  1853.] 

JOHN  WILLIAM  BURGON  was  admitted,  as  we  have 
seen,  into  the  Sacred  Order  of  Deacons  on  the  24th  of 
A.D.  1848.  December,  1848.  The  day  following  was  Christmas 
Day ;  and  his  loving  heart,  so  susceptible  at  all  times 
to  the  domestic  affections,  urged  him  to  spend  it,  as 
usual  with  him,  in  the  family  circle,  with  father,  mother, 
brother,  and  sisters.  He  would  present  himself  to  them 
moreover  in  his  new  character  as  a  minister  of  CHRIST  : — 
a  circumstance  which  would  give  the  re-union  the 
deepest  interest,  both  to  them  and  to  himself.  Although, 
as  he  tells  Mr.  Renouard  in  a  letter  dated  December  27, 
1848,  he  was  "not  free  from  the  Ordination" — that  is, 
the  Service  lasted — "till  half-past  three  in  the  after- 
noon," and  the  excitement  of  the  occasion  must  have 
added  greatly  to  the  fatigue,  he  left  Oxford  by  the 
mail  train  at  2  A.M.  the  next  morning,  and,  having 
"slept  near  the  Station,"  reached  Osnaburgh  Street, 
the  then  residence  of  his  parents,  at  9  A.M.  At  n  he 
went  with  them  to  the  Church  they  then  attended, 
Christ  Church,  Albany  Street,  and  "  assisted  Dodsworth 
in  distributing  the  Sacrament"  (the  first  act  this  of 
his  ministry),  and  "  read  the  lessons."  On  the  following 
Sunday  (Dec.  31)  he  preached  his  first  Sermon  at 
the  same  Church  in  the  evening ;  not  on  the  Great 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     163 

Invitation,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour,"  &c. — 
the  text,  upon  which  he  says  in  one  of  his  early  journals 
that  he  had  always  thought  he  would  make  his  first 
Sermon  [See  above,  Chap.  I,  p.  98],  but  on  an  equally 
great  word  of  the  glorified  Saviour,  "  Behold,  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock,"  &c.  Rev.  iii.  20.  On  the  inside 
of  the  cover  of  the  manuscript  is  this  characteristic 
memorandum,  showing  that  he  was  conscious  of 
having  fallen  into  the  snare,  which  besets  all  young 
preachers,  of  pouring  out  all  their  stores  at  once  ;  "  The 
chief  fault  of  this  sermon  is  that  it  is  too  full,  as 
Dodsworth  very  justly  remarked.  I  perceive  I  have 
lugged  in  all  the  following  topics,"  &c.,  &c.  He 
returned  to  Oxford  on  January  27,  after  spending  A.D.  1849. 
a  fortnight  at  Houghton,  where  also  he  preached  on  L  36-^ 
both  the  Sundays  of  his  stay  there ;  and  then,  as  soon 
as  possible,  he  plunged  into  that  direct  Pastoral  work, 
to  which  he  had  already  felt  so  powerfully  drawn,  in 
which  he  spent,  not  his  money  only,  but  his  strength, 
his  time,  his  loving  endeavours,  in  a  word  himself,  for 
the  people  committed  to  his  charge,  and  which  seems  to 
have  always  yielded  to  him  a  higher  satisfaction  and 
a  purer  enjoyment,  even  than  that  which  he  derived 
from  study.  His  first  Curacy  was  West  Hsley,  "  a  parish 
on  the  Berkshire  downs,"  which  he  held  for  rather  more 
than  a  year,  beginning  on  the  25th  of  February,  1849, 
and  retiring  finally4  on  the  2oth  of  March  in  the  following 
year.  During  his  tenure  of  this  Curacy  he  was  admitted 
to  the  Priesthood,  December  23,  1849;  and  of  this  his 

*  His  ministry  at  West  Ilsley,  as  and    ending    with    Palm    Sunday, 

\\illbeseenbytheletters.wasnot  April   i,   1849.     On  Sun.  June  17 

continuous.     His  first  engagement  he  seems  to  have  revisited  Ilsley 

lasted  only  for  the  six  weeks  of  Lent,  (merely  for  the  day),  and  preached 

beginning  with  Sun.  25  Feb.  1848,  two  Sermons.     On   Sun.    Oct.   21 

M  2 


1 64  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

second  Ordination  his  mother,  to  his  great  comfort  and 
satisfaction,  was  a  witness.  The  people  of  West  Ilsley 
seem  to  have  wound  themselves  specially  around  his 
heart,  as  indeed  did  all  the  people  of  whom  at  any  time 
he  took  the  Pastoral  Charge  ;  attachment  to  his  flock 
was  always  one  of  his  characteristics ;  but  probably  in 
the  case  of  West  Ilsley  the  feeling  may  have  been  in- 
tensified by  the  freshness  and  novelty  of  the  interest 
which  this  new  relationship  excited  in  his  mind.  His 
journals  and  letters,  excerpts  from  which  last  will  be 
given,  according  to  our  plan,  at  the  end  of  this  Chapter, 
sufficiently  evince  his  interest  in  his  flock,  and  the  lively 
pleasure  which  he  took  in  ministering  to  them.  But  an 
anecdote,  with  which  his  friend  Bishop  Hobhouse  has 
favoured  the  author,  will  put  his  sentiments  before  the 
reader  in  a  more  vivid  way  than  any  amount  of  descrip- 
tion. In  a  letter  to  the  author,  dated  July  4,  1889,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  Bishop  shows  the  most  correct 
appreciation  of  the  secret  of  Burgon's  character,  he 
writes  thus : — 

"  I  will  here  record  a  proof  of  his  clinging  affection 
for  places  and  persons,  the  more  remarkable,  because 
this  affection  was  drawn  out  by  objects  which  to  most 
people  would  have  offered  no  attraction.  Soon  after  his 

commenced  his  second  engagement  also  appear  from  the  letters,  hearing 

at  Ilsley,  which  lasted  till  Dec.  16,  (in  the  course  of  his  engagement  at 

1849,  the   Sunday  before  he  was  Worton)  of  a  Confirmation  which 
ordained  Priest.  On  Sunday,  Jan.  20,  was    announced    for   West    Ilsley, 

1850,  commenced  a  third  engage-  he' made  an  arrangement  with  the 
ment  at  Ilsley  (he  notes  that  "  I  Rector  to  prepare  the  Candidates, 
administered  my  first  Sacrament  in  which  he  did  at  various  visits  during 
Church,"  he  not  having  been  pre-  the  latter  part  of  March,  and  the 
viously    qualified  to  celebrate  the  t  earlier    part    of  April,   1851,   and 
Holy  Communion— on  Sunday,  Feb.  afterwards  on   Easter  Day  (April 
to,    1850)    which    terminated    on  20,  1851)  administered  to  the  con- 
Wednesday,  March  20.    But,  as  will  firmed  their  first  Communion. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     165 

Ordination  he  took  an  engagement  to  minister  in  a 
small  village  Church  on  the  Berkshire  downs,  which 
he  could  reach  on  Saturdays  after  his  week's  work  was 
done  in  Oxford.  He  used  to  talk  of  this  place  with 
delight.  Some  years  after  I  took  the  duties  there. 
Amongst  those  I  had  to  visit  there  was  one  aged  and 
lone  woman,  whose  disposition,  naturally  sour,  resisted 
the  usual  persuasions  to  contentment.  She  remembered 
Mr.  Burgon's  visits,  but  not  his  advice,  which  I  begged 
her  to  recall.  The  one  thing  she  could  recount  was 
his  extraordinary  love  for  the  West.  Ilsley  people. 
She  told  her  story  in  this  droll  way : — '  One  day  I 
looked  up  at  yonder  hill,  and  I  saw  Mr.  B.  at  the  top 
on't  with  his  hands  over  his  head,  a-waving  his  hat. 
He  then  spread  out  arms,  as  if  he  were  clasping  s/: 
to  his  breast.  He  ran  down  the  hill,  and  began  visiting 
from  door  to  door.  When  he  came  to  my  house,  I 
asked  him — For  whatever  did  you  do  that  (imitating  his 
gestures)  on  the  hill  ? — Oh  !  because  I  love  the  Ilsley 
people,  and  I  was  embracing  you  all,  glad  to  find  my- 
self among  you. — Love  the  Ilsley  people?  says  I; — 
Why,  if  you  had  lived  among  them  so  many  years 
as  I  have,  you'd  know  that  Ilsley  folk  are  no  better 
than  other  folk.  I'd  clap  my  hands,  if  I  could  get  away 
from  them.' 

"  The  poor  old  dame  did  in  fact  bring  out  my  dear 
friend's  loving  spirit  in  the  strongest  contrast  to  her 
own  soured  one.  There  was  the  fact  so  unintelligible  to 
her  that,  because  he  had  ministered  for  a  few  weeks 
to  Christ's  flock  in  that  village,  that  flock,  even  in  the 
person  of  one  of  its  least  attractive  members,  had 
become  very  dear  to  him  ;  the  place  was  clothed  with 
an  affectionate  interest,  drawing  him  at  the  cost  of 
valued  time  to  demonstrate  his  love  in  his  own  peculiar 
manner. 

"It  was  the  same  at  Finmere ;  it  was  the  same 
wherever  he  ministered,  or  was  kindly  treated ;  the  heart 
was  kindled  with  an  irrepressible  and  durable  affection. 
The  spot  and  its  interests  became  sacred  to  him,  once 
and  for  ever." 


1 66  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Nor  was  this  interest  in  his  people  merely  sentimental. 
There  was  no  amount  of  time  and  trouble  which  he 
grudged,  no  toil  which  he  would  not  take  for  them. 
Here  is  an  anecdote  sent  to  the  author  by  one  who  had 
a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances. 

"  On  one  occasion,  when  going  to  Ilsley  in  those  days, 
seven  miles  from  the  nearest  railway  station  (Steventon), 
he  took  back  with  him  a  little  lad,  who  had  for  some 
weeks  been  in  the  Oxford  Infirmary.  The  day  was  a 
bright  one  (in  the  Autumn),  and  the  white  roads  of  that 
district  reflected  the  sunshine,  and  with  their  chalky 
dust  made  walking  along  them  a  great  toil.  Mr.  Burgon 
usually  walked  rapidly;  and,  although  no  doubt  he 
moderated  his  pace  as  much  as  possible  to  accommodate 
his  fellow-traveller,  still  the  hills  and  dusty  road,  com- 
bined with  his  long  strides,  in  the  course  of  a  mile  or 
two  so  exhausted  the  youDgster,  who  no  doubt  was 
weakly  through  his  recent  illness,  that  at  Rowstock  he 
fairly  gave  in,  and  sat  down  by  the  road-side  and  cried. 
Mr.  Burgon  sat  down  too.  and  consoled  the  lad  with 
sugar-plums  from  his  pocket;  and  after  a  little  while 
again  essayed  to  finish  the  remaining  five  miles  of  the 
journey.  But  the  little  fellow  was  too  exhausted  to 
proceed ;  and  so  his  kind  companion  lifted  him  up,  and 
carried  him  pick-a-back  along  the  dusty  road  and  over 
the  steep  downs,  till  he  reached  his  home,  where  he  set 
him  down  in  his  mother's  arms." 

Before  we  pass  away  from  Ilsley,  we  may  notice  that 
in  his  Journal  of  Sunday  October  28,  1849  (before  he 
was  ordained  Priest  therefore)  is  found  this  Memorandum. 
"As  before.  So  happy!  first  extempore  Sermon."  He 
was  not  an  extempore  preacher,  and  probably  before  an 
educated  congregation  very  rarely  indeed  omitted  to 
take  a  manuscript  into  the  pulpit.  However,  the  late 
Warden  of  All  Souls,  Dr.  Leighton,  assured  the  author 
that  on  Sunday  afternoon  he  had  once  heard  Burgon 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     167 

preach  extempore  at  St.  Mary  the  Virgin's  Church  "in 
a  most  instructive  and  edifying  manner  "  (perhaps  thiy 
may  have  been  in  connexion  with  the  afternoon  Cate- 
chizing of  the  Choristers).  On  the  author's  mentioning 
this  to  Burgon,  he  said  he  might  have  done  it  once, 
but  it  was  never  his  rule.  "  Considering  that  Heads  of 
Houses,  Tutors  of  Colleges,  and  men  of  the  highest 
Academical  distinction  were  often  members  of  my  Con- 
gregation at  St.  Mary's,  I  should  have  thought  myself 
exceedingly  presumptuous,  had  I  ventured  to  address 
to  them  my  crude  thoughts  on  the  spur  of  the  moment." 
But  among  the  rustics  of  Ilsley  and  Finmere,  on  the 
other  hand,  one  cannot  fancy  his  never  unburdening 
his  mind  (as  the  Scotch  Ministers  say)  "without  the 
paper."  The  above  Memorandum  is  a  proof  that  he  did 
so,  at  least  occasionally. 

When  his  engagement  at  West  Ilsley  came  to  an  end,  A.D.  18 
M  it  did  on  March  20,  1850,  he  sought  and  found  *• 
another  temporary  engagement  at  Worton  in  Oxford- 
shire, where  there  were  two  Churches  to  serve  (that 
of  Nether  Worton  and  that  of  Over  Worton),  and 
where  he  speaks  of  himself  as  receiving  great  kindness 
from  the  family  of  Mr.  Wilson  the  Rector,  notwith- 
standing some  discrepancy  between  them  in  regard 
of  theological  views.  But  the  population  of  Worton 
was  very  small ;  and  he  seems  to  have  been  engaged 
on  the  understanding  that  the  Sunday  duty  was  to 
be  his  province,  and  so  he  did  not  make  that  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  members  of  the  flock  so  essential, 
according  to  his  own  view,  to  the  realisation  of  the 
Pastoral  relationship.  The  reader  will  be  amused 
to  read  in  his  letter  to  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose  of 
April  30,  1851,  how  happy  it  made  him  to  be  released 
from  Worton  one  Sunday  sooner  than  had  been  origi- 


1 68  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

nally  arranged,  because  it  set  him  free  to  revisit  the 
flock  to  which  he  was  so  much  attached  at  Ilsley,  an 
opening  for  which  just  then  presented  itself,  and  after 
preparing  the  Candidates  for  an  impending  Confirmation, 
to  give  them  their  first  Communion  on  Easter  Day,— 
which  was  his  final  and  happy  farewell  to  his  first 
Curacy. 

Later  in  the  same  year  he  undertook  a  third  Curacy, 
that  of  Finmere  in  Oxfordshire,  then  united  with 
Mixbury  under  the  Pastoral  care  of  a  clergyman 
every  way  remarkable,  and  for  whom  he  conceived,  it 
will  be  seen,  the  greatest  veneration, — The  Reverend 
William  Jocelyn  Palmer.  Mr.  Palmer  himself  resided 
at  Mixbury,  and  hence  Finmere,  which  was  two  miles 
off,  became  more  or  less  Burgon's  sole  charge.  He 
received,  however,  every  possible  assistance  from  the 
Rector's  sister,  a  maiden  lady  who  occupied  the  parson- 
age of  Finmere,  and  did  the  work  of  a  clergyman's  wife 
in  that  parish.  And  here  the  writer  has  the  good  fortune 
to  be  able  to  present  the  reader  with  an  account  of 
Burgon's  ministry  at  Finmere  from  the  most  trust- 
worthy of  sources,  the  pen  of  the  Venerable  Edwin 
Palmer,  Archdeacon  of  Oxford,  one  of  Mr.  Palmer's  sons, 
who  was  often  present  at  Finmere  during  the  Sundays 
which  Burgon  spent  there.  Thus  the  Archdeacon 
writes : — 

"  Mr.  Burgon  was  never  licensed  to  the  Curacy;  indeed, 
he  was  actually  residing  at  Oriel  during  the  three  years 
into  which  his  Finmere  engagement  fell.  All  that  he 
undertook  was  to  come  to  Finmere  every  Saturday,  and 
stay  there  till  Monday — and  not  even  this  in  the  Long 
Vacation.  That  Vacation  it  was  his  habit  to  spend 
with  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Henry  John  (after- 
wards Archdeacon)  Rose,  at  Houghton  Conquest,  in 
Bedfordshire.  He  used  to  say  that  he  needed  the  Long 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     169 

Vacation  '  for  the  education  of  his  biggest  pupil ' — mean- 
ing himself.  He  very  rarely  stayed  at  Finmere  for  more 
than  two  nights  at  a  time,  except  at  Christmas  and  at 
Easter.  That  he  should  have  grown  deeply  attached  to 
the  Finmere  people,  and  should  have  attached  them 
deeply  to  himself,  in  so  short  a  period  and  with  such 
intermittent  ministrations,  may  seem  wonderful  ;  but 
the  unique  character  of  his  ministrations  serves  to  ex- 
plain it.  He  came  to  Finmere  regularly  on  the  Saturday 
afternoon.  That  same  evening  he  went  round,  as  a  rule, 
to  every  house  in  the  village,  and  sometimes  visited  out- 
lying cottages  or  farms  also.  On  the  Sunday,  besides  his 
work  in  the  church  and  the  school,  he  made  a  practice  of 
visiting  all  the  sick  in  the  parish.  In  one  case  of  great 
urgency  he  is  remembered  to  have  gone  five  times  in  one 
Sunday  to  a  single  house.  He  was  liberal  with  his 
money  to  a  fault.  During  the  first  few  weeks  of  his 
connexion  with  Finmere  he  would  bring  with  him  joints 
of  meat  from  Oxford,  and  carry  them  himself  to  cottages, 
the  inmates  of  which  had  struck  him  as  specially 
needy.  Against  this  particular  method  of  charity  the 
Rector  thought  it  necessary  to  protest.  Mr.  Burgon 
abandoned  it,  somewhat  unwillingly,  in  deference  to  his 
Rector's  long  experience.  But  his  bounty  found  for  it- 
self other  channels ;  it  was  irrepressible.  On  the  Mon- 
day morning  he  not  unfrequently  entertained  at  break- 
fast in  his  lodging  ten  or  a  dozen  of  the  school-children. 
The  provision  was  as  abundant  as  at  an  Oxford 
tutor's  breakfast  party ;  the  host  at  least  equally 
acceptable  to  his  guests.  Indeed,  his  kindness  to  the 
school-children  was  unbounded ;  for  the  little  ones  he 
showed  great  fondness.  He  played  with  them,  and  en- 
couraged them  to  hang  about  him,  as  men  who  love 
children  will  caress  the  young  children  of  a  friend. 
They  returned  his  affection  heartily.  It  was  common  to 
see  them  crowding  round  him  in  the  village  street,  or 
running  along  by  his  side.  The  old  Rector  applied  to 
him  the  words  of  Goldsmith — '  They  plucked  his  gown 
to  share  the  good  man's  smile.'  But  if  his  kindness  to 
the  children  was  overflowing,  their  elders  had  a  full 


170  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

share  of  it  also.  Two  illustrations  may  suffice.  A  poor 
woman  who  was  very  ill,  and  was  thought  to  be  near 
death,  expressed  one  Sunday  a  strong  wish  to  see  again 
her  son,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  Radcliffe  Infirmary  at 
Oxford  for  an  affection  of  the  eyes.  'You  shall  see 
him  ! '  said  Mr.  Burgon.  After  Evensong,  which  was  at 
three  o'clock,  he  walked  over  to  Bicester  (eight  miles), 
went  into  Oxford,  got  the  lad  out  of  the  Infirmary, 
brought  him  over  to  Finmere  that  night,  and  showed 
him  to  his  mother,  and  took  him  back  to  the  Infirmary 
on  the  Monday  morning.  The  mother  recovered.  On 
another  occasion,  in  winter,  a  boy  belonging  to  a  large 
and  very  poor  family  was  out  of  work.  He  had  asked 
all  the  farmers  for  employment  in  vain.  Mr.  Burgon 
took  up  his  case.  Before  his  own  breakfast  on  the 
Monday  morning,  he  went  round  himself  to  every  farm- 
house in  the  parish.  It  was  not  until  he  had  completed 
the  round  that  he  met  with  success.  The  last  farmer 
whom  he  visited  gave  way.  When  incidents  like  these 
are  related,  it  seems  right  to  add  that  his  care  for  the 
souls  of  the  people  was  as  active  as  his  care  for  their 
bodies. 

"  His  remarkable  diligence  in  visiting  the  sick  and  the 
whole  has  been  already  mentioned.  It  may  be  worth 
while  to  say  a  word  about  his  dealings  with  those  who 
were  confirmed  during  his  employment  at  Finmere.  •  On 
the  2 ist  of  March,  1852,  Bishop  Wilberforce  held  a  Con- 
firmation at  Mixbury  for  the  two  parishes  of  Mixbury 
and  Finmere.  At  that  Confirmation  Mr.  Burgon  pre- 
sented thirty-nine  candidates  from  the  parish  of  Fin- 
mere — fifteen  men  and  twenty-four  women — of  whom 
the  eldest  was  forty-seven,  the  youngest  fifteen.  He 
had  prepared  them  with  the  greatest  care.  Five  of  them 
were  not  actually  living  in  the  parish  at  the  time  ;  but 
two  of  these  five,  and  all  the  thirty-four  who  were  living 
in  the  parish,  received  the  Holy  Communion  from  him 
on  Easter  Day.  To  fix  these  memories  more  deeply,  he 
wrote,  printed,  and  distributed,  five  stanzas  of  eight 
lines  each  with  this  heading :  '  Finmere  Verses :  to  re- 
mind us  of  our  Confirmation,  at  Mixbury,  on  the  2ist  of 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     171 

March  :  and  of  our  First  Communion,  at  Finmere,  on 
Easter  Day,  A.  D.  1852.'  Nor  did  he  stop  here.  At 
Christmas  in  that  same  year  he  wrote,  printed,  and  dis- 
tributed, '  A  Letter  to  the  Parishioners  of  Finmere,'  not 
unlike,  in  its  general  choice  of  topics,  the  Pastoral  Letters 
which  parish  clergymen  sometimes  introduce  into  parish 
magazines,  but  characteristic  of  the  writer  in  its  tender- 
ness and  particularity.  In  this  letter  he  recited  the 
names  of  all  those  who  had  been  confirmed  that  year, 
mentioned  the  number  (not  of  course  the  names)  of 
those  who  had  communicated  at  Easter,  and  asked  '  But 
what  of  those  other  three '  who  did  not  communicate  ? 
'  And  out  of  the  thirty-six  who  came  to  the  Lord's  Table  at 
Finmere  on  Easter  Day,  how  many  have  presented  them- 
selves for  the  second  time?'  Other  words  were  added  of 
affectionate  warning  and  entreaty.  A  letter  to  him,  dated 
twenty-one  years  later,  from  one  of  those  whom  he  pre- 
jiaivd  for  that  Confirmation,  was  found  after  his  death, 
which  showed  that  his  fatherly  care  and  kindness  was 
not  easily  forgotten. 

"It  may  be  added  that  he  distributed  at  Finmere  a 
simple  Manual  of  Private  Prayer,  prepared  by  himself, 
and  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Rector,  which  he  is 
believed  to  have  printed  expressly  for  that  parish.  It 
was  printed  inside  a  sheet  of  letter  paper.  He  certainly 
dedicated  to  the  parishioners  of  Finmere  a  funeral  ser- 
mon, which  he  preached  at  Mixbury  on  the  death  of  the 
Rector,  in  the  autumn  of  1 853,  after  his  own  connexion 
with  Finmere  was  terminated. 

"  Mr.  Burgon's  first  Sunday  at  Finmere  was  the  twenty- 
second  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1851  ;  his  last  was  Trinity 
Sunday,  1853.  The  whole  time  between  those  dates  is 
only  eighteen  months ;  but  he  bore  the  people  of  that 
parish  always  in  his  heart.  He  came  back  to  preach  to 
them  on  the  i5th  of  November,  1858,  when  their  church 
had  been  restored  by  the  exertions  of  a  new  Rector,  and 
he  seems  to  have  composed  two  hymns  for  that  occasion. 
He  maintained  a  correspondence  with  many  of  them  for 
many  years,  and  continued  to  help  those  who  needed  it, 
as  he  found  occasion.  Every  person  from  Finmere  who 


1 72  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUSOON. 

came  to  the  Oxford  Infirmary,  while  he  remained  at 
Oriel,  was  regarded  by  him  as  his  special  charge.  Others 
who  visited  Oxford  for  other  reasons,  he  encouraged  to 
come  and  see  him  in  his  college  rooms :  those  who  came 
he  showed  about  and  entertained  as  if  they  had  been 
friends  of  equal  rank  with  himself.  He  kept  always 
near  him,  both  at  Oxford  and  at  Cbichester,  a  little  book 
of  Finmere  memoranda.  The  news  of  his  death  caused 
no  less  sorrow  in  that  village  than  it  caused  in  Oxford 
itself." 

While  he  was  thus  immersed  in  pastoral  occupations 
during  the  Saturdays,  Sundays,  and  often  also  during 
the  Mondays,  of  the  Oxford  Term  time,  he  was  carrying 
on  many  other  pursuits  and  studies  at  his  College  on  the 
other  days  of  the  week,  and  throwing  himself  with  the 
keenest  possible  interest  into  the  academical  movements 
of  the  day,  and  into  the  political  and  theological  ques- 
tions, which  the  course  of  events,  or  the  progress  of 
thought,  threw  up  to  the  surface.  In  the  first  place,  his 
private  pupils,  the  engagement  with  whom  was  neces- 
sitated by  his  desire,  not  only  to  make  himself  entirely 
independent  of  his  father,  but  also  to  lay  by  something  as 
a  provision  for  the  members  of  his  family,  occupied  a 
great  deal  of  his  time,  and  not  of  his  time  only,  but  of 
his  care  and  thought ;  for  his  character  was  such  that  he 
could  do  nothing  without  throwing  his  whole  mind  into 
it,  and  warming  with  the  interest  of  his  work.  Then  he 
had  during  this  period  (as  almost  always)  literary,  or 
quasi-literary  work  in  hand.  His  pen  and  his  pencil 
were  never  idle.  We  shall  see  that  the  Notes  and 
Dissertations  of  his  '  Harmony,'  which  then  "  promised  to 
be  his  opus  magnum"  grew  during  this  period  to  a  con- 
siderable bulk ;  and  it  is  some  consolation  to  those  who 
cannot  but  regret  that  this  work  (which  more  or  less 
occupied  him  all  his  life)  was  never  finished,  to  observe 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     173 

a  statement  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Mrs.  H.  J.  Rose, 
that  his  '  Commentary  of  the  Gospels '  had  grown  out  of  the 
•  Harmony.'  The  Scripture  Cottage  Prints — a  scheme 
which  had  been  conceived  at  the  time  of  his  first  Ordina- 
tion, and  about  which  he  had  then  consulted  Mrs.  Hugh 
James  Rose — appeared  in  1851  ;  and  on  the  eve  of  his  A.D.  18- 
thirty-eighth  birthday  (Aug.  20  of  that  year)  he  writes  *•  ''  3' 
one  of  his  sprightly  little  notes  5  to  Mr.  Renouard,  to  ask 
the  favour  of  being  allowed  to  dedicate  to  him  the  com- 
pleted work,  of  which  the  twelfth  and  last  Part,  "  now  on 
the  stocks,  is  to  be  accompanied  with  a  peck  of  letter- 
press." That  a  work  of  this  sort  is  most  desirable,  as 
providing  artistically  good  prints,  in  substitution  for  the 
miserable  daubs  too  often  found  on  cottage  walls ;  that 
the  dissemination  of  such  prints  amongst  our  peasantry 
might  contribute  to  their  mental,  and  (under  God's 
blessing)  to  their  spiritual  elevation ;  and  that  Burgon 
was  eminently  qualified  to  conduct  such  an  enterprise, 
from  his  inborn  genius  for  art,  and  from  the  culture 
which  in  early  days  he  had  bestowed  upon  that  genius, 
will  be  universally  allowed. 

The   fifty  smaller  Cottage  Prints  (the   series   which 
was  dedicated  to  Mr.  Renouard)  were  not  coloured.    They 
are  well- executed   tinted   engravings   from   the  Sacred 
Pictures  of  the  great  Masters,  which  are  more  or  less 
familiar  to  every  one.     Put  late  in  1852,  and  early  in  A.D.  18 
1853,  "  Large  Coloured  Sacred  Prints  for  the  School  and  ^-  3 
the  Cottage  "  of  a  much  less  artistic  character,  were  put 
forth  in  three  Parts  by  the  same  Editors. 

"'The   School'  has   been  first   named,"  they  say  in 

5  It  is  dated  "  Eve  of  'lavuciStov'B  it  was  doubtless  by  this  name  tliat 

Birthday.    Aniio  ^Erse  Dionysiacae,  Mr.  Renouard,  who  baptized  him, 

1851."      'lavtHiSiov   is   the   modern  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  him  in 

Greek  for  "Little  Johnnie";  and  his  childhood  and  youth. 


174  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

their  Prefatory  Address,  "as  the  primary  object  of 
Parochial  solicitude — the  source  and  centre  of  Ministerial 
hope.  But  the  adornment  of  the  Cottage  was  the  object 
of  the  present  undertaking,  as  well  as  of  the  smaller 
Series  of  '  Cottage  Prints,'  which  we  published  last  year. 
.  .  .  Concerning  the  merit  of  the  present  Series  of  Prints, 
as  works  of  Art,  we  dare  not  speak  very  confidently.  .  .  . 
We  heartily  wish  that  these  Engravings  were  of  a  higher 
order ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  feel  that  they  have 
sufficient  merit — more  than  sufficient  we  shall  perhaps  be 
told — to  please  the  class  for  which  they  are  chiefly  in- 
tended. The  Texts  in  the  ornamental  border  do  not  of 
course  conduce  to  the  pictorial  effect  of  the  engraving. . .  . 
But  they  make  the  picture  a  vast  deal  more  instructive, 
and  help  to  produce  that  kind  of  gaudy  magnificence, 
which  uneducated  eyes  delight  to  contemplate." 

The  Pteverend  F.  E.  Paget  addressed  some  remarks 
to  the  Publishers  of  these  Sacred  Prints  as  to  the  service 
done  to  Cottagers  by  the  publication,  and  as  to  the  in- 
dispensability  of  some  such  pictures  to  their  instruction 
and  edification. 

"  No  one  who  does  not  live  among  Cottagers,"  he  wrote, 
"can  have  the  faintest  conception  how  indispensable 
pictures  are  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  instruction 
(and,  I  may  add,  comfort)  to  their  minds;  nor  how 
intense  is  their  ignorance  with  respect  to  matters  with 
which  it  is  assumed  that  they  are  familiar,  but  which 
have  not  been  brought  before  them  through  the  medium 
of  pictures.  I  can,  of  my  own  knowledge,  confirm  a 
statement  which  I  have  lately  seen  in  print,  that  there 
are  grown  persons,  who  had  no  idea  of  the  manner  of 
our  Blessed  LORD'S  death  until  a  print  of  the  Crucifixion 
was,  of  late  years,  brought  before  them." 

It  should  be  noticed,  in  speaking  of  the  studies  carried 
on    during    this    period    contemporaneously   with   his 
pastoral  work  in  rural  districts,  that   his  first  Sermon  . 
before  the  University,  which  naturally  demanded  much 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     175 

and  careful  preparation,  was  preached  on  April  26,  1851. 
Its  subject  was  The  Interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture, 
and  it  developed  itself  into  and  was  followed  by,  a  series 
of  six  Lectures  on  the  same  subject  delivered  in  Oriel 
College  Chapel ;  and  both  may  be  regarded  as  the 
nucleus  of  his  Volume  on  "  Inspiration  and  Interpreta- 
tion," in  which  he  answers  seriatim  the  Seven  Essays  of 
the  notorious  Essays  and  Reviews. 

It  remains  to  say  a  word  of  the  Academical,  Political, 
and  Ecclesiastical  movements  to  which  references  are 
made  in  the  Letters  subjoined  to  this  and  the  following 
Period.  The  New  Statute,  which  established  a  fourth 
School  of  Law  and  Modern  History,  and  for  which  he  ex- 
presses to  Mr.  Renouard  so  strong  an  antipathy,  was 
passed  by  Convocation  April  23,  1 850.  But  this,  besides 
being  the  spontaneous  act  of  Oxford  herself,  was  a  very 
meagre  instalment  of  those  fundamental  and  revolution- 
ary changes  in  the  constitution  and  administration  of  the 
University,  into  the  acceptance  of  which  Oxford  was  to 
be  coerced  by  the  action  of  a  (so-called)  Liberal  Govern- 
ment, which  had  but  little  sympathy  either  with  the 
Academy  or  the  Church.  Probably  some  of  those,  who 
most  strongly  urged  the  establishment  of  the  Law  and 
History  School,  may  have  regarded  that  measure  as  a 
sort  of  lightning  conductor,  which  might  either  avert 
altogether  the  Academical  revolution  threatened  in  high 
quarters,  and  evidently  impending,  or,  if  it  was  to  come, 
might  at  least  mitigate  its  severity.  If  so,  they  strangely 
miscalculated  its  effect.  In  the  very  next  month,  Lord 
John  Russell  gave  notice  of  the  intention  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  issue  a  Royal  Commission  "  to  inquire  into  the 
State,  Discipline,  Studies,  and  Revenues  of  the  University 
and  Colleges  of  Oxford,"  and  in  August  the  Commission 
was  actually  issued.  In  vain  did  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 


i  -6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

as  Chancellor  of  the  University,  offer  vigorous  opposition 
to  the  measure.  In  vain  did  even  the  Liberal  Lord 
Brougham  deprecate  "a  rash  and  inconsiderate  inter- 
ference with  the  Universities."  In  vain  did  the  Heb- 
domadal Board,  the  then  ruling  body  of  the  University, 
remonstrate.  In  vain  (on  May  21,  1851)  was  a  petition 
to  Her  Majesty  in  Council  against  the  Commission  of 
Inquiry  carried  in  a  full  house  of  Convocation  (the 
legislative  body  of  the  University)  by  a  majority  of  144. 
Asked  in  the  House  of  Commons  whether  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Commission  were  to  be  suspended,  until  the 
petition  had  been  presented  and  decided  upon,  Lord 
John  Russell  emphatically  answered,  "  Certainly  not." 
The  Commission  sat  to  brew  its  revolutionary  measure 
during  1851  ;  and  in  the  May  of  1852  appeared  the 
bulky  Blue  Book  of  800  pages  containing  its  Report, 
with  an  Appendix  of  "forty-seven  Recommendations, 
some  of  them  affecting  the  University,  and  others 
particular  Colleges6."  It  was  not,  however,  till  1854 
that  the  Oxford  University  Bill,  which  was  founded  on 
this  Report  was  introduced  and  carried  in  Parliament. 
Burgon's  estimate  of  the  serious  evils  likely  to  accrue 
from  it  will  be  submitted  to  the  reader  in  the  next 
Chapter. 

Two  Parliamentary  Elections  for  the  University  took 
place  during  this  period  (December  24,  1848  to  June  6, 
I^53)-  That  which  took  place  in  July  1852  was 
necessitated  by  the  Dissolution  which  the  late  Lord 
Derby,  then  Prime  Minister,  had  advised.  On  this 
occasion  a  vain  attempt  was  made  to  oust  Mr.  Glad- 

The  above  particulars  respect-  Mr.  G.  V.  Cox's  '  Recollections  of 

in:,'  the  Royal  Commission,  and  the  Oxford'     [London:     1870].       Mr. 

resistance  which  it  encountered  in  Cox's  own  phraseology  has  been  in 

the  University,  are  all  taken  from  some  cases  retained. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     177 

stone  from  the  seat  which  (with  Sir  Robert  Inglis  as  his 
colleague)  he  had  held  since  July  1847,  Dr.  Marsham, 
the  Warden  of  Merton.  who  was  put  up  against  him, 
obtaining  only  758  votes  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  1108.  And 
shortly  afterwards  another  Election  for  Oxford  University 
became  inevitable.  Lord  Derby's  Government,  having 
been  defeated  in  December  upon  the  financial  projects  of 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  (Mr.  Disraeli),  at  once 
resigned,  and  Lords  Aberdeen  and  Lansdowne  undertook 
to  form  a  Government  on  the  basis  of  an  union  between 
the  Whigs  and  the  followers  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  consenting  to  become  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer under  this  Administration,  had  to  be  re-elected 
by  the  University  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1853.  He 
had  given  great  offence  by  his  joining  in  the  vote  which 
led  to  the  resignation  of  the  Government  of  Lord  Derby, 
and  accordingly  it  was  resolved  that  his  election  should 
be  opposed.  He  was  again  victorious  over  his  opponent 
(Mr.  Perceval),  but  by  a  majority  greatly  reduced  from 
that  by  which  he  had  beaten  Dr.  Marsham  (124  votes 
as  against  350).  The  fact  that  between  the  two  elections 
Lord  Derby  had  succeeded  the  Duke  of  Wellington  as 
Chancellor  of  the  University  (the  Duke  having  died 
September  14,  1852)  contributed  to  embitter  the  feeling 
of  the  constituency  against  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  one  who 
had  put  himself  in  opposition  to  its  head.  It  will  be 
seen  that  Burgon,  like  so  many  other  members  of  the 
constituency,  while  offended  by  many  parts  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's political  conduct,  and  grievously  disappointed  in 
the  expectations  he  had  formed  of  him  as  a  champion 
of  the  Church,  nevertheless  supported  him  to  the  end  by 
his  vote,  more  on  the  ground  of  the  inadequate  mental 
calibre  of  his  opponents  than  of  any  sympathy  with  the 
YOL.  I.  N 


178  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

(so-called)  liberal  views,  which  he  had   then  begun  to 
develop7. 

In  the  years  1849,  1850  two  questions,  which  still 
continue  to  divide  members  of  the  Church,  were  in 
consequence  of  current  events  warmly  agitated.  These 
were  the  doctrine  of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  and  the 
power  of  a  lay  Tribunal  to  adjudicate  in  matters  of 
doctrine.  In  1849  Bishop  Philpotts  of  Exeter  had  re- 
fused to  institute  Mr.  Gorham  to  Brampford  Speke, 
on  the  ground  of  his  denying  the  teaching  of  the  Cate- 
chism, that  Regeneration  accompanies  Infant  Baptism 
necessarily  and  universally.  Mr.  Gorham,  having  been 
condemned  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Court,  appealed  in 
1850  to  the  Queen  in  Council,  who  reversed  the 
sentence,  eliciting  thereby  from  Archdeacon  Denison  a 
protest  against  the  right  of  the  Queen  in  Council  to  ad- 
judicate in  a  matter  of  doctrine.  Then  followed  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter's  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury (Sumner),  charging  his  Grace  with  having  changed 
the  ground  which  he  had  taken  up  in  his  earlier  writings 
on  the  subject  of  Baptismal  Regeneration, — one  of  the 
most  lucid,  vigorous,  and  crushing  pamphlets  which  has 
ever  appeared  on  a  controversial  subject.  In  two  days 

7  In  saying  this,  the  author  must  was  demanded  in  order  to  justify 
earnestly  deprecate  being  under-  opposition  to  him.  It  was  Goliath 
stood  to  disparage  either  Mr.  Round,  in  full  panoply  advancing  against  a 
Dr.  Marahain,  or  Mr.  Perceval,  all  stripling  with  sling  and  stone.  Per- 
of  whom  were  high-minded,  high-  haps  the  voters  on  the  unsuccessful 
principled,  and  honourable  men,  and  side  in  those  contests  may  have 
each  of  whom  successively  he  him-  occasionally  consoled  themselves 
self  cordially  supported  as  against  under  their  crushing  defeats  with 
Mr.  Gladstone.  But  the  unusual  the  thought  of  that  ancient  en- 
brilliancy  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  powers  counter,  and  its  lesson  that  the 
and  attainments  not  unnaturally  'strong  side,  as  this  world  accounts 
made  very  many  feel  that  a  candi-  strength,  .is  not  necessarily  the  right 
date  of  more  than  ordinary  lustre  side. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     179 

it  reached  a  fourth  edition,  and  the  copy  of  it  now  before 
the  author  is  stated  to  be  the  sixteenth  edition.  But 
the  Archbishop  held  on  his  course  unmoved,  as  indeed 
he  could  not  well  avoid  doing,  and  on  August  20,  1 850, 
Mr.  Gorham  was  inducted  into  the  living  of  Brampford 
Speke  by  mandate  of  the  Primate,  overruling  the  refusal 
of  the  Diocesan.  It  will  be  seen  in  the  ensuing  corres- 
pondence with  what  vehemence  and  ardour  Burgon  threw 
himself  into  the  controversy,  and  maintained  the  doctrine 
which  Mr.  Gorham  had  impugned. — On  the  other  hand  it 
will  be  seen  with  equal  clearness  that  he  was  throughout, 
and  from  the  very  earliest  days,  a  most  loyal  and  attached 
member  of  the  Reformed  Church.  After  a  grave  consulta- 
tion with  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose,  upon  whom  he  seems 
to  have  thought  that  her  revered  husband's  mantle  had 
fallen,  he  withdrew  his  name  (by  a  letter  which  bears 
date  July  23,  1 849),  from  the  English  Church  Union,  on 
which  it  had  been  placed,  as  he  tells  her,  without  his 
consent  being  asked.  His  remonstrances  with  Mr.  Dods- 
worth,  when  he  found  what  Homewards  tendencies  he 
was  developing,  and  his  determination  "never  again  to 
wear  a  surplice  in  that  Church "  will  be  read  with 
interest.  In  fact,  what  was  said  of  him,  when  he  un- 
folded his  ecclesiastical  views  at  some  party  of  Oxford 
men,  "Why  I  declare,  Burgon,  that  you  are  quite  a 
jii-imitive  Tractarian"  represented  very  accurately  his 
whereabouts  in  Religious  Opinion.  He  had  strong 
sympathy  with  the  Tractarian  movement  at  its  outset, 
in  its  revival  of  discipline,  in  its  recognition  of  the  value 
and  blessing  of  the  Apostolical  Succession,  and  above  all 
in  its  reinstatement  of  the  Daily  Office,  and  its  teaching 
on  the  subject  of  the  Sacraments;  but  further  than  this 
he  could  never  be  induced  to  go  ;  Ritualism  had  always 
a  repellent  effect  upon  him ;  and  he  consistently  inain- 

N  2 


i8o  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

tained  that  it  was  a  corruption  and  running  to  seed  of 
the  High  Church  movement,  not  a  sound  and  healthy 
development  of  it.  In  times  like  the  present,  when 
nothing  commends  itself  to  popular  acceptance  but  that 
which  is  extravagant  and  in  extremes,  it  cannot  be 
supposed  that  his  views  on  religious  subjects  will 
find  favour  with  the  many ;  but  by  those  who  read  in 
his  letters  the  expression  of  his  interest  in,  and  his  love 
and  care  for  his  rural  flocks,  it  will  be  universally  agreed 
that,  whatever  else  he  may  have  been  (and  he  was  very 
much  besides),  he  at  least  was  singularly  qualified  to  be 
a  Christian  Pastor,  singularly  endowed  with  the  sym- 
pathy and  self-sacrifice  whereby  souls  are  won, — one, 
on  whose  heart  those  texts  were  graven  as  the  animating 
principles  of  his  ministry;  "God  is  my  record,  how 
greatly  I  long  after  you  all  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus 
Christ ; "  "  And  I  will  very  gladly  spend  and  be  spent 
for  your  souls8." 

The  letters  to  Mr.  Hensley  subjoined  to  this  Chapter 
exhibit  the  clinging  affection  to  his  old  College  friend, 
which  he  maintained  inviolate  and  intense  amidst 
certain  differences  of  political  and  religious  opinion, 
while  those  to  Mr.  Renouard  show  the  distastefulness  to 
him  of  the  (so-called)  Academical  Reforms  which  had  set 
in,  and  at  the  same  time  the  interest  in  etymology  and 
other  departments  of  study,  which  his  many-sided  mind 
found  room  for,  even  while  he  was  taking  private  pupils, 
and  keenly  interesting  himself  in  the  work  and  responsi- 
bilities of  a  zealous  Parish  Priest.  And  the  author  has 
found  himself  unable  to  withhold  from  the  reader  the 
letter  in  which  Mr.  Palmer,  his  venerated  and  much 

8  The  marginal   rending  of  the       the  reading  in  the  text.     The  origi-  - 
Authorised  Version  of  2   Cor.  xii.       nal  has,  virtp  -ruv 
15,  is  here  adopted,  as  preferable  to 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     181 

loved  Rector,  while  not  obscurely  indicating  his  cordial 
sympathy,  tempers  his  enthusiasm,  and  suggests  to  him 
improvements  both  in  his  writings  and  his  method  of 
working.  The  second  letter  of  Mr.  Palmer,  suggesting 
to  him  a  new  subject  for  a  Cottage  Print,  has  an  inde- 
pendent value  from  the  striking  Fable  that  accompanies 
it,  and  which  came  to  Mr.  Palmer  himself  from  the  cele- 
brated Jones  of  N  ayland. 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  23  Feb.,  1849. 

"  My  dear  Bishop — I  am  sure  you  will  be  interested  to 
hear  that  to-morrow  I  am  literally  going  to  turn  Country 
Curate !  My  parish  is  West  Ilsley,  a  village  in  Berk- 
shire— amid  the  Downs.  My  Rector,  the  Honble.  and 
Rev.  Edw.  Moore,  is  absent  for  six  weeks  more  at 
Windsor  (where  he  is  Canon),  and  I  am  to  have  sole  care 
of  the  Parish  during  his  absence.  I  feel  as  nervous,  as 
you  may  suppose,  and  as  curious  as  if  I  was  going  to 
see  MI/  irife.  It  is  eighteen  miles  off,  and  I  am  full  of 
work  with  pupils,  lectures  I  attend,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.,  so  that 
I  fear  I  shall  only  be  able  to  go  over  on  Saturdays,  and 
half  hesitate  at  undertaking  such  a  responsibility ;  but 
AV/,//,<  one  must,  and  I  feel  so  like  a  sword  rusting  in  its 

sheath,  that  I  am  really  every  way  pleased  to  go 

You  will  of  course  hear  from  me  ere  long,  with  some 
particulars  of  my  doings. 

ik  Ever  most  affectionately  yours, 

"  J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  27  Feb.,  1849. 

"  Well,  my  dear  Bishop,  every  thing  went  off  charm- 
ingly in  my  rural  parish.  Every  thing  is  as  pleasant  as 
you  can  suppose.  The  railway  takes  me  ten  miles  to- 
wards Ilsley  ;  a  crazy  little  horse  and  gig  trundles  me  the 
remaining  eight  at  a  pace  by  which  the  horse  designs  (I 


182  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

see  clearly)  to  facilitate  thought  or  reading.  The  village 
(which  I  reach  at  five)  contains  about  400  people,  who, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Squire  and  his  sister,  and  four 
farmers,  are  all  day-labourers.  The  Church  is  small  and 
unattractive.  The  Parsonage  house  new  and  large. — 
There  is  little  to  charm  one  in  the  place ;  but  it  is  my 
portion,  and  it  is  charming  therefore  to  me. 

"  On  my  arrival  I  proceeded  full  trot  to  the  extremity 
of  the  village,  and  began  to  make  acquaintance  with  the 
people.  This  lasted  till  between  eight  and  nine.  Next 
day,  at  the  intervals  between  services,  I  did  the  like, 
and  on  Monday  morning  visited  some  more.  So  that,  on 

the  whole,  I  do  not  think  they  can  feel  neglected 

I  never  had  two  entire  services  all  to  myself — schools, 

&c.,  before.     I  like  it  immensely I  meditate  a 

few  reforms  however.     There  is  not  a  soul  in  Church — 

scarcely — who  kneels  ;  and  very  /<?«?  in  Church  at  all 

I  find  also  that  Baptisms  are  celebrated  after  service,  and 
I  gave  in  to  the  practice  so  far  as  to  baptize  my  first  child 

accordingly  in  presence  of  an  empty  Church May 

I  venture,  my  Lord,  to  plead  your  authority  and  express 
orders,  and  baptize  the  next  candidates  for  Baptism  during 
Service  ?  I  must  try  to  bring  this  about  before  I  leave 
Ilsley.  You  will  wish  to  hear  the  name  of  my  first 
Babe.  Noah  Newman!  ....  The  absurdity  of  helping 
Noah  into  the  Ark  struck  me  so  forcibly  that  it  almost 

destroyed  my  gravity. 

I  can  add  no  more  just  now,  but  that  I  am  your  affec- 
tionate Deacon, 

"  J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"  Oriel,  Easter  Monday  [April  9],  1849. 
"  My  dear  Bishop, — 

"  My  career  at  West  Ilsley— my  very  happy  career- 
terminated,  very  happily,  on  Saturday ;  the  first  day  on 
which  I  had  felt  anything  like  dulness  there.  My  en- 
gagement with  Mr.  Moore  only  lasted  for  the  six  Sundays 
m  Lent— but  I  wished  very  much  indeed  to  talk  to  them 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     183 

on  Good  Friday,  so  I  staid.  Easier  Day  was  too  great  a 
privilege,  it  seems.  The  Provost  appointed  me  to  preach 
in  Chapel ; — so  my  body  was  at  Oriel,  and  my  heart 
only  at  Ilsley.  I  achieved  my  purpose,  or  rather  pur- 
poses, and  thank  God  with  all  my  heart ;  for  each 
success  was  an  wupeakable  comfort  to  me.  I  had  my  little 
church  very  full.  I  hammered  (often  in  extempore  para- 
graphs) Sunday  after  Sunday  at  their  knees,  till  all 
knelt. — or  pretended  to  do  so  ;  and  I  christened  my  four 
children  before  a  full  congregation.  It  was  the  happiest 
afternoon  of  all ;  for  I  addressed  my  sermon  to  the  cln/ilrcn 
(having  announced  beforehand  that  I  should  do  so),  so 
that  the  incident  of  the  Baptism  came  in  most  oppor- 
tunely,— and  all  went  off  well ;  though  one  of  the  little 
( 'hi  istians  <H<1  keep  bawling  at  the  top  of  her  lungs, '  Give 
me  my  bonnet,  I  say,  and  let  me  go  ho-o-oo-me'  .  .  .  Un- 
luckily, I  had  left  my  sugar-plums  at  the  Rectory ;  so 
there  was  no  help  for  it. 

"  As  my  Bishop  also,  I  am  bound  (as  well  as  itn-lined) 
to  tell  you  that  I  made  my  first  essay  at  catechizing 
during  service,  on  Good  Iriday  afternoon,  instead  of 
a  Sermon,  and  had  a  little  row  of  weeping  Naiads  to 
catechize  :  to  my  immense  annoyance  at  the  time  (for  I 
thought  they  were  frig/if etiet/, — which  after  the  rehearsal 
in  the  schoolroom  was  a  great  deal  too  bad),  but  of 
course  to  my  pleasure  afterwards,  for  the  little  dears 
proved  wrry  fo  think  I  icas  going  away  on  the  morrow  /// 
....  I  had  indeed  taken  great  pains  with  them,  for 
which  they  seemed  very  grateful. — In  short,  we  all 
parted  with  mutual  regret.  Many  and  many  and 
many  a  time  did  I  think  of  you  and  wished  for  you 
too.  .  .  ." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  May  i,  1849. 

" Tell  me  whether  you  approve  of  my  legacy  to 

my  people.  These  prayers  (the  result  of  no  small  delibera- 
tion) I  had  mounted  on  thin  pasteboard,  secured  with  a 
strip  of  cloth  behind,  so  as  to  open  and  shut  like  a  little 


1 84  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Portfolio.     I  hope  too  you  will  like  the  May-day  verses 
which  I  wrote  for  Magdalen  College  9. 
"  And  now  farewell. 

"  Ever  your  affectionate 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Houghton  Conquest,  July  9,  1849. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose,  — 

"  Now  I  will  not  throw  into  the  shape  of  a  grumble 
a  visit  I  paid  to  Ilsley  on  the  last  Sunday  of  Term,  and 
the  two  sermons  I  was  requested  to  write  (for  the  Church 
Building  Society),  and  Carry  l  with  me.  I  will  simply 
record  my  visit  to  my  Curacy,  the  return  as  I  felt  it  to 
be,  as  a  fact  in  my  recent  life.  I  had  felt  so  much  in 
earnest  with  that  little  parish,  that  I  am  half  ashamed  to 
confess  how  considerable  a  place  in  my  thoughts  the  con- 
templated return  to  Ilsley  occupied.  When  I  got  there, 
everything  seemed  go  changed !  Instead  of  crossing  bare 
and  bleak  downs,  with  a  stupid  boy  flogging  at  a  whitey- 
brown  pony  for  a  couple  of  hours,  my  Rector  came  to 
conduct  me  through  basking  sunshine.  On  reaching  the 
brow  of  the  hill  which  commands  the  village,  it  was,  and 
was  not,  the  same.  The  trees  all  out  in  bottle-green  liveries, 
and  every  field,  which  I  had  left  black,  fragrant  with 
bean-blossom,  or  waving  with  the  promise  of  harvest. 
But  the  greatest  change  was  still  to  come.  It  seemed 
incredible  to  me  that  there  could  be  more  than  two  rooms 
in  the  house.  A  Drawing  and  a  Dining  room,  flowers, 
and  a  piano,  with  two  or  three  men  servants,  and  eight 
or  ten  women  servants, — I  wondered  where  they  had  all 

9  These  verses  will  be  found  in  his  some  neighbouring  hill 

little  Volume  of  '  Poems  (1840  to  Blown  such  a  blast  of  her   en- 

1878)'   [Macmillan,  1885],  "May  chanted  horn 

Morning  on  Magdalen  Tower."  That  youth  forgets  his  slumber?" 

"  What  do  we,  up  so  early,  this  &c.,  &c. 

May  morn  ?  >  His  sister  Caroline,  Mrs.  Henry 

Hath  Health,  the  huntress,  from  John  Rose. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     185 

come  from  !  ...  In  short  I  secretly  pined  for  '  the  Sacra- 
mental quarter  2,'  and  preferred  my  active  Lenten  life  to 
the  new  sphere  of  light  and  sunshine,  into  which  I  had 
so  unaccountably  been  introduced. 

"  I  would  rather  talk  to  you,  than  write,  about  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Moore,  their  two  Sons  and  two  Daughters.  I  shall 
only  write  that  they  were  kind  and  hospitable,  and  that 
I  was  sorry  to  run  away  so  soon.  I  left  there  on  Mon- 
day, packed  up  my  things  on  Tuesday,  and  on  Wednesday 
morning  hurried  to  London.  I  saw  little  of  my  people  ; 
but  all  I  saw,  showed  that  they  had  not  forgotten  me. .  . .  My 
first  Curacy  /  shall  assuredly  never  forget.  I  may  add 
that  I  believe  I  am  to  resume  the  care  of  the  little  flock 
from  i  January  to  31  March  (F.axter  -Day,  thank  God!) 
1850.  But  ffiis  also  is  to  anticipate.  A  blissful  anticipa- 
tion it  ?'#  though  ! 

" 1  preached  twice  for  Dodsworth "  [in  London,  at 
Christ  Church,  Albany  Street].  "  The  second  time  before 
a  large  congregation,  and  spoke  my  mind  on  a  subject  which 
I  suppose  had  never  been  spoken  of  before  in  that  church. 
I  mean  the  sin  of  talking  loosely  in  society,  as  if  you  ap- 
proved of  Romanism,  and  so  perhaps  really  unsettling, 
if  not  actually  sending  over,  the  weak  and  wavering. 
I  rather  trembled  at  my  own  boldness,  and  thought  it 
son  in  I  wl  very  extraordinary,  amid  the  extreme  quiet  of 
the  Church,  to  be  saying  what  I  kneir  was  hitting  right 
and  left  so  many,  without  phrase  and  circumlocu- 
tion, and  for  the  space  of  two  pages.  But  I  had  counted 
the  cost.  I  took  a  week  to  think  over  what  I  had 
written,  and  was  prepared  to  stand  or  fall  by  it.  Dods- 
worth took  it  very  well,  though  I  am  sure  I  surprised 
him.  ...  I  am  sure  it  is  much  needed  in  that  parish. 
I  can  write  to  you  (and  to  scarcely  any  one  else)  freely  ; 

*  He  means  Lent,  Easter,  Ascen-  Death  and    Burial," — followed    by 

sion-title,  and   Whitsun-tide,  when  '*  the  glorious  Resurrection  and  As- 

tlie  chief  Mysteries  [Sacramento)  of  cension,"  and  by  "  the  coming  of  the 

our  Redemption  are  commemorated,  Holy  Ghost."     This  period  may  be 

— "TheBaptisin,Fasting,andTemp-  called  the   Sacramental  quarter  of 

tation,the  Agony  and  Bloody  Sweat,  the  year. 
the  Cross  and  Passion,  the  precious 


1 86  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

and  I  assure  you  if  you  could  hear  the  way  that  the 
Margaret  Street  Chapel  people,  and  some  of  Dodsworth's 
talk,  you  would  really  think  that  it  was  a  settled  point 
in  that  quarter  that  our  own  Holy  Communion  is  good 
only  as  a  pis  aller  ;  that  Romanism  is  the  thing  — after 
all.  They  almost  swear  by  Allies  s  book\  I  could  tell 
you  of  many  things  said  and  done,  which  would  quite 
amaze  you.  They  are  just  as  wild  one  way,  as  certain 
good  people  are  another.  One  shares  the  usual  and 
obvious  fate  of  being  kicked  by  both  parties.  However, 
being  as  saucy  as  most  people,  I  kick  in  return.  Were 
I  permanently  to  live  among  them,  I  feel  I  should  very 
soon  be  obliged  to  take  up  an  antagonistic  position.  As 
it  is,  visiting  London  only  at  long  intervals,  and  for  a 
very  short  time,  I  feel  that  I  shall  do  my  part  if  I  merely 
fire  off  a  single  gun  every  time  in  a  certain  direction. 
Meantime  I  see  clearly  that  London  is  the  place,  however 
distressing  it  would  be  to  become  a  London  Rector.  I 
see  further  that  if  I  had  a  parish  in  London,  I  should 
stand  almost  alone. — Romanism  I  abhor.  Your  dry  (I 
beg  your  Lordship's  pardon !  their  dry)  Protestantism  I 
hate.  I  allow  no  unction,  no  nothing  in  the  Romish 
system,  which  ours  may  not  surpass.  I  allow  no  simpli- 
city, jealousy,  variety  in  Protestantism,  which  is  not  com- 
patible with  something  far  higher,  and  more  soul-stirring.  . 
....  But,  I  tell  you  honestly,  if  I  had  a  large  parish  to 
look  after,  I  must  rush  up  to  Broad  Street 3  once  a  week, 
or  you  must  come  and  pitch  your  tent  somewhere  near 
me,  during  all  responsible  times;  for  the  sense  of  my 

insufficiency  very  often  almost  unmans  me 

"  There  are  two  or  three  things  in  your  letter  to  answer. 
My  Prayers  (thank  you  for  your  criticism)  I  know  are 
a  touch  too  high  ;  but  I  think  I  could  bring  a  parish  up 
to  them  (if  I  might)  in  a  few  weeks.  Surely,  if  only 
twenty  copies  in  a  hundred  are  used,  one  is  doing  huge 
good.  And  can  one  not  make  sure  in  a  school  that  all 
use  them  ?  .  .  .  Out  of  delicacy,  I  left  the  hundred  copies 
behind,  and  find  only  four  or  five  had  been  distributed ! . . . 
However,  your  advice  so  weighs  with  me,  that  if  you 
*  Broad  Street,  Brighton,  where  Mrs.  Hugh  Jaines  Rose  was  then  living. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     187 

will  tell  me  of  your  notion  of  a  maximum  for  a  school- 
child,  I  will  see  what  can  be  done.  . .  .  Depend  upon  it,  we 
neglect  the  lambs  of  the  flock.  They  grow  up  godless ; 
then  come  the  cares  of  life  ;  then  sickness ;  and  the 
Clergyman  stars  his  fingers,  and  wonders  at  the  ignor- 
ance of  the  person  he  is  addressing,  who  can  neither 
understand  htm,  nor  pray  for  himself. ' 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"  Royal  Hotel,  Ramsgate,  Oct.  12,1 849. 
"  My  dear  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  I  rejoice  to  tell  you  that  I  return  on  the  2ist  to  my 
old  curacy ! ! !  It  is  offered  me  till  the  2nd  December, 
and  again  for  three  months  in  1850,  beginning  with  the 
middle  of  January.  I  feel  so  glad.  I  can  think  of  nothing 

else But  when  your  Lordship  pleases  to  bestow 

a  London  living  upon  me  (which  once,  with  some  naivete, 
you  asked  me  why  I  did  not  fake  I),  I  will  resign  my 
splendid  property  on  the  Berkshire  Downs,  and  migrate 
to  the  Metropolis " 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  Monday,  10  Dec.  1849. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  A  poor  wretch  who  has  been  working  himself  all  this 
term  into  fiddle-strings — who  has  had  pupils  (perforce) 
all  the  morning  of  every  day — and  the  anxieties  of  a 
little  parish,  besides  the  actual  amount  of  work  required 
for  the  same  little  parish  to  fill  up  all  that  remained  of 
every  day ; — who  has  consequently  never  known  the 
peace  of  a  quiet  walk,  or  a  thorough  night's  rest  for 
eight  weeks  exactly ; — and  who  now  that  he  ought  to  be 
making  his  peace  with  God  in  the  miserable  ten  days, 
which  remain  before  the  Examination  at  Cuddesdon  4,  finds 
he  must  cram  up  heresies,  and  councils,  and  dates  ; — this 
is  the  poor  animal,  whom  you  are  good  enough  to  call 

•  For  Priests'  Orders. 


i88  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

your  friend,  and  prove  that  you  regard  him  as  such,  by  so 
writing  to  him  as  you  now  write  to  me.  I  WILL  find 
time  for  THAT,  but  I  cannot  for  any  thing  else. 

"  I  enclose  what  speaks  for  itself.  They  were  distri- 
buted mounted  on  cards — (I  have  a  few  for  you).  It 
will  show  you  the  kind  of  anxiety  I  have  had.  I  believe 
now  EVERY  ONE  in  the  place  has  prayers  ;  and  oh!  the 
joy  I  have  felt  at  discovering  FOR  CERTAIN  that  scores  of 
children  use  them  daily — I  mean  the  maturer  prayers  I 
sent  you.  I  have  also  visited  EVERYBODY  in  the  place, 

and  know  all  about  them But  this  is  not  done 

without  some  wear  and  tear 

"I  left  Oxford  before  it  was  light  on  Saturday,  and 
on  reaching  Ilsley,  after  breakfasting,  visited  36  families. 
I  returned  to  my  fireside  about  8,  dined,  and  at  10  o'clock 
fell  asleep,  woke  at  3  in  the  dark,  and  began  my  Sermon, 
suggested  by  the  news  picked  up  in  my  parish  peram- 
bulation  This  followed  by  incessant  talking,  from 

10  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Sunday  till  5  in  the  even- 
ing, is  really  enough  to  tire  a  nobler  creature  than  my- 
self. I  quite  long  for  rest. 

"  Yours  most  affectionately, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"  Oriel,  Good  Friday  night  [April  29],  1850. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  But  I  really  must  tell  you  how  I  have  been  '  going 
on,'  as  I  call  it.  I  have  been  trying  to  do  the  work  of 
two  men,  and  have  found  it,  to  say  the  least,  hard  work. 
My  Oxford  week  I  have  tried  to  discharge  in  four  days 
and  a  half:  a  week  at  Ilsley  is  the  remaining  fraction. 

•  The  impression  left  upon  me  by  nine  weeks 

labour  in  this  way  is  that  of  profound  weariness 

I  have  commonly  had  to  write  one  sermon  between  10 
[p.  m.  on  Saturday]  and  3  on  Sunday  morning.  My  Mon- 
day I  have  given  to  my  parish,  which  I  have  left  with  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     189 

bleak  dawn  of  Tuesday,  so  as  to  be  in  Oxford  (nineteen 
miles  oft')  by  9  in  the  morning.  Of  late,  great  anxiety  re- 
specting a  woman  with  a  fever,  carried  me  over  once  or 
twice  in  the  week.  From  Didcot  (the  nearest  station)  I 
have  walked  always  over  the  hills, — and  this,  added  to  the 
work  which  I  found,  or  made,  when  I  got  there,  quite 

knocked  me  up It  was  my  first  case  of  listening 

to  an  agonized  conscience  in  the  near  prospect  of  death. 

I  shall  not  easily  forget  it ! I  could  go  on  about 

my  parish  for  a  week ;  I  could  tell  you  how  tenderly  we 
parted,  and  what  kind,  cheering  news  I  get  from  them. 
But  I  should  only  be  tedious.  I  could  tell  you,  too,  of 
all  I  tried  to  achieve,  but  it  would  serve  no  purpose, 
except  to  foster  that  self-comcioumexs,  which  I  am  sure 
mars  one's  usefulness  sadly,  and  prevents,  many  a  time, 

the  descent  of  the  Divine  blessing  on  one's  labours 

I  feel  rather  more  disposed  to  be  penitential,  and  tell  you 
of  all  my  slips,  and  sad  experiences ;  but  you  would  be 
very,  very  weary,  and  wish  I  had  never  broken  silence. 

I  will  therefore  turn  my  thoughts  away  from 

that  handful  of  sheep  in  the  wilderness  and  look  onwards. 

"  What  a  crisis  we  seem  to  have  come  to  in  Church 

matters !  .  .  .  .  Something  Mttxf.  follow,  I  think 

You  have  seen  the  Bishop  of  E.'s  Letter  of  course 5. 

"  I  have  as  yet  signed  nothing,  nor  taken  any  step.  I 
have  in  truth  seen  no  protest  which  I  could  sign.  All 
express  too  many  opinions,  I  think.  Why  not  stick  to  the 

one  point, — the  washing  away  of  original  sin  ? 

After  Easter  I  hope  something  may  be  done  here  ;  but  all 
is  still  at  present.  Hussey  is  trying  to  get  the  Heads  to 
act.  It  is  like  asking  elephants  to  dance. 

"  I  rejoice  in  only  one  feature  of  the  matter — namely, 
the  dignity  of  the  question  at  issue.  It  is  not  a  doctrine  6. 

5  1A    Letter    to   the  Archbishop  *  He  is  speaking  of  Baptismal  Re- 

qf   Canterbury '    [Sumner]    'from  generation,  which  is  the  subject  on 

the  Bishu)i  of  Exeter '  [Philpotts].  which  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  joined 

John   Murray,   Albemarle    Street,  issue  with  the  Archbishopof  Canter- 

1 850.  bury. 


i  QO  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

It  is  almost  Religion  itself.  It  is  an  article  in  the  Creed. 
It  is  a  thing  to  die  for.  On  the  other  hand,  no  distress- 
ing course  of  coming  events,  scarcely,  can  be  fatal  to  us 
as  a  Church  ;  and  I  hope  the  few  waverers  one  hears  of 
will  feel  that  it  is  indeed  so.  The  excitement  produced 
keeps  men  generally  quiet,  but  I  need  hardly  tell  you 
that  this  is  a  question  which  is  stirring  men  to  the  very 
foundation, — trying  them  all. 

"  Ever  your  affectionate, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"  34,  Osnaburgh  Street,  June  26,  1 850. 

"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  Your  approbation  of  my  sermons  is  the  highest  praise 
1  ever  desire,  except  of  course  the  practical  praise  of  see- 
ing them  influence  any — the  humblest  of  my  fellow- 
servants — for  good I  must  have  many  a  talk 

with  you  before  I  presume  to  work  a  parish.  Full  of 
hopes  I  am,  overflowing  with  a  confident  belief  that  an 
immense  deal  may  be  done  by  well  directed  zeal  and 
sound  teaching.  Yet,  when  I  am  to  be  put  to  the  proof, 
remains  all  a  mystery  ;  and  strange  as  it  may  sound,  with 
all  my  desire  for  parochial  work,  it  is  a  mystery  which  I 
do  not  at  all  feel  disposed  to  pry  into.  I  am  not  at  all 
impatient — '  one  step  enough  for  me.' 

"  What  I  do  desire  is  not  to  die  till  I  have  had  the 
shepherding  of  a  flock  7.  In  that  task  I  am  content  to 
wear  myself  out,  and  if  the  prophecies  of  friends  are  to 
go  for  aught,  I  should  soon  do  so.  '  I  do  hope  you  will 
never  have  a  parish,'  was  the  farewell  of  a  kind  soul  at 
Ilsley  ;  and  I  have  since  been  informed  that  I  should  kill 
myself,  if  I  had  only  FIVE  PERSONS  in  my  parish.  The 
picture  will  I  hope  make  you  laugh  to  read,  as  it  does 

7  He  means  as  Incumbent,  with  had  only  shepherded  the  flock  of 
a  flock  of  his  own.  As  Curate,  he  another. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     191 

me  to  write No,  no.     I  have  learned  many  lessons  in 

Ilsley,  and  one  is,  to  know  that  one  cannot  do  every 
thing  for  everybody. 

"  O,  I  had  such  a  pleasant  visit  there  on  Whit  Monday  ! 

The  poor  were  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  their 

humble  welcome  was  untnistakeable. 

"  Since  my  arrival  in  London,  I  have  been  too  unwell 
to  go  to  church.  1  do  hope  for  your  approval  in  my 
resolve  nerer  to  wear  a  fti'r^/ice  any  more  at  DodtwortJrt 
Churcli.  It  must  certainly  show  sympathy  of  a  certain 
kind  to  officiate  with  him.  and  I  do  NOT  sympathize  at 
all.  Do  pray  notice  this  first  in  your  reply. 

"  You  have  heard  of  course  that  Newman  is  lecturing 
in  town.  The  lectures  are  said  to  be  most  entertaining. 
Last  week  I  met  a  man  who  had  been  to  them  (a  lawyer). 
We  were  dining  together.  'For  shame !'  I  cried ;  'and 
pray  what  did  you  learn  1 '  'To  despise  Popery  more  than 
ever,'  he  replied ;  '  but  at  the  same  time  to  feel  that  the 
Church  of  England  is  no  Church  at  all.'  '  So  that  you 
came  away  disbelieving  everything  ?  '  '  Why,  yes,  rather.' 

And  who  can  doubt  that  this  was  a  type  of  a 

class  ? The  Clergy  go  also.     I  begged  to  be  told 

a  a « me  or  two.  M  ...  of  W  ...  ., — a  person  I  particu- 
larly distrust — was  the  only  one  he  named.  Is  not  this 
also  distressing  ?  O,  we  live  in  bad  times — yet  not  worse 
than  many  which  have  gone  before — not  so  bad  (if 
Scripture  speaks  true)  as  some  which  will  come  after. 
But  the  remedy  is  plain — study  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
possessing  one's  soul  in  patience,  and  persevering  in  well- 
doing to  the  end I  feel  as  happy  as  need  be, 

though  I  neither  am  blind  to  the  danger  (which  is  coming 
very  close),  nor,  I  humbly  trust,  indifferent  to  it. 

"  Ever  your  most  affectionate  and  obliged, 

"  JOHN  W.  BURGON. 
"  '  O  for  him  8  back  again ! '  I  say  many  a  time  to  my- 

*  He  means  Mr.  Hi-gh  James  Rose,  his  correspondent's  late  husband. 


192  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

self.  We  are  a  poor  set,  the  best  of  us.  I  get  mubbed  for 
condemning  some  people's  views  as  unsound y— and  really 
the  belief  seems  spreading  that  no  one  ought  to  presume 
to  talk  so,— just  as  if  every  thing  were  not  either  right  or 
WRONG!  and  if  wrong,  to  be  branded  as  such,  that  all 
may  see. — Adieu,  my  dear  Bishop." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"H.  Conquest,  Jan.  15,  1851. 

"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  I  called  on  Pusey,  on  Christmas  Eve,  and  he  read  me 
a  letter  just  received  from  D[odsworthJ.  It  began  that 
he  was  broken-hearted,  and  asked  P.  to  pray  for  him,  &c. 
&c. ;  and  you  may  imagine  that  the  day  after  I  reached 
London  I  called  on  D.  I  found  him  in  his  study,  and 
when  I  alluded  to  the  questions  of  the  day,  he  repeated 
the  words  he  had  written  to  P.,  and  expressed  utter 
despair  of  the  Ch.  of  E.,  or  rather  implied  utter  dis- 
belief in  it.  In  reply  to  my  remonstrances,  he  insisted 
that  the  Church  had  surrendered  to  the  Crown  the  alle- 
giance which  it  owed  to  Christ.  This  I  denied.  He 
opened  a  drawer,  and  drawing  forth  a  MS.,  read  me 
several  passages.  I  was  still  firm,  and  showed  him  on 
every  ground  that  his  data  were  insufficient ;  that  his 
precedents  from  history  had  been  before  the  world  for 
hundreds  of  years,  and  escaped,  as  valid  arguments,  all 
the  learned  ;  that  granting  them  real,  they  would  amount 
to  nothing  but  the  errors  of  individual  men,  such  as  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  had  committed  by  the  dozen,  as  all 
History  attests,  and  then  I  pressed  him  with  the  essen- 
tials of  a  Church,  which  even  he  must  allow  we  retained 
abundantly.  Of  course  when  I  alluded  to  his  congrega- 
tion, he  winced,  and  turned  away  in  tears.  But  it  was 
far  too  late  to  influence  him.  He  had  given  in  his 
resignation  three  weeks  before,  and  had  evidently  made 
up  his  mind.  In  truth,  I  make  little  doubt  but  what 
these  men  first  lose  their  hearts,  and  then  cast  about  for 
arguments  wherewith  to  fortify  their  reason.  All  I  could 
say  he  met  doggedly.  I  argued  as  a  Dissenter  might 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     193 

argue,  he  said.  About  Rome  he  fired  up,  and  protested 
that  men  mistook  the  question  as  concerns  that  Church. 
So,  with  many  warnings  to  him  to  be  humble  and  dis- 
trust himself,  at  the  end  of  two  hours  we  parted.  Judge 
of  my  amazement  to  learn  that  four  or  five  days  later  he 
had  turned  Romanist !  His  wife  continues  constant  to 
Christ  Church  with  some  of  the  girls,  and  a  bitter  posi- 
tion must  her's  be  indeed. 

"  My  last  visit  in  London  was  to  her.  I  ventured  to 
remind  her  that  she  owed  a  higher  duty  to  One  above, 
even  than  to  her  husband.  She  begged  I  would  come 
and  see  her  when  I  came  to  London. 

"  Alas,  in  the  meantime  what  a  deadly  blow  do  these 
men  aim  at  our  Holy  Church  !  How  do  they  retard  any 
upward  movement!  How  do  they  bind  our  arms  and 
cripple  us!  Who  have  spoken  more  strongly  against 
Romanism  than  Newman,  Allies,  Dodsworth,  and  the 
rest?  What  pretence  have  we  then  for  requiring  cre- 
dence, while  we  maintain  the  Church's  authority,  and  yet 
disclaim  Romanizing  tendencies  1  But  I  am  sick  of  the 
subject. 

"  I  do  begin  to  distrust  amazingly  some  of  those  who 
yet  remain  to  us.  You  will  easily  guess  the  kind  of 
chaps  I  mean.  They  form  an  amazingly  small  crew, — 
the  ultras,  I  speak  of,  of  course.  You  will  be  glad  to  hear 
that  Tritton  takes  an  opposite  line ;  but  how  sad  the 
case  of  B  *  *  *  *  ! 

"  And  now  for  something  else — though  one  cannot 
help  yet  once  more  reverting  to  it,  to  exclaim,  How  odd 
it  does  seem  that  no  one  is  found  willing  to  conduct  the 
services  of  a  large  London  Church  in  so  unshowy  a  way 
as  to  disarm  censure  and  baffle  Puritanism, — yet  from  the 
) 'in I i lit  teach  all  that  an  honest  English  heart  can  desire  ! 
It  would  be  a  rare  triumph,  indeed,  in  London.  In  the 
country,  I  do  believe  the  case  is  common. 

'•  Ilsley  is  to  enjoy  its  lawful  Vicar  till  June :  on  dis- 
covering which,  I  cast  about,  and  was  anxious  to  hear  of 
some  one  wanting  Sunday  help.  The  first  offer  which 

VOL.  i.  o 


194  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

came  to  me,  I  gratefully  accepted.  I  am  apprentice  to 
the  Rev.  W.  Wilson,  of  Worton  House,  near  Woodstock, 
or  rather  near  Banbury,  in  Oxfordshire.  Two  little  vil- 
lage Churches  (Upper  and  Lower  Worton)  claim  me,  one 
in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  afternoon.  My  master 
is  cousin  to  Daniel  Calcutta,  and  he  has  a  host  of  rela- 
tions who  are  dissenters — still,  individually,  he  satisfies 
me,  and  would,  I  am  bold  to  say,  satisfy  you.  He  would 
not  accept  the  living  of  Islington,  because  of  his  dissent- 
ing kinsmen  in  the  vicinity.  I  took  an  early  opportunity 
to  flare  up  on  the  Sacraments, — and  resolved,  if  they 
could  stand  that  sermon,  to  go  on  letting  the  truth  come 
out  in  its  several  aspects  in  my  sermons,  as  occasion 
might  serve,  without  ever  going  out  of-  my  way  to  bring 
it  forward ;  we  get  on  capitally. 

"  This  Cure  forms  a  singular  contrast  to  Hsley.  There, 
I  arrived  in  an  empty  house,  and  at  once  set  off,  full  trot, 
after  the  villagers.  Sunday  was  all  fag ;  everything 
was  on  my  (happy)  shoulders.  Here  I  am  one  of  a  large 
cheerful  family ;  the  organ  and  piano  fill  up  leisure 
moments— and  I  ignore  the  handful  (they  are  but  a  hand- 
ful) of  villagers.  I  do  as  I  am  wished,  of  course." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"5  Burton  Crescent,  April  30,  1851. 

"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"Ever  since  Christmas,  you  know,  I  have  been  offi- 
ciating on  Sundays  at  Worton,  in  Oxfordshire,  a  village 
belonging  to  the  Wilsons,  with  whom  I  lived — and  from 
whom  I  experienced  a  world  of  kindness.  They  used  to 
rail  at  Tractarianism,  but  they  were  good  enough  to 
agree  with  me,  so  I  never  defended  what  I  did  not  under- 
stand— and  the  result  was  sixteen  very  happy  Sundays. 
Of  course  I  brought  away  a  heap  of  regrets.  I  remember 
many  opportunities  very  imperfectly  availed  of— a  hun- 
dred things  said  and  done  which  require  forgiveness. 
Still,  they  are  kind  enough  to  speak  approvingly  of 
every  thing,  so  I  must  be  content  to  turn  the  past  into  a 
warning  to  myself.  What  I  desired  there  was  more 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     195 

work.  My  duties  began  on  Sunday  morning,  and  ended 
on  Sunday  evening — consisting,  generally,  of  two  full 
services,  and  a  kind  of  family  service  in  the  hall.  This 
last  seemed  to  give  great  satisfaction.  Some  neighbours 
and  the  servants  formed  the  congregation,  which  gene- 
rally numbered  about  thirty.  There  is  an  organ  in  the 
hall,  and  one  of  the  ladies  played.  Some  of  us  had  ears, 
and  all  had  voices.  The  Hymn  ended,  we  read  some 
Psalms.  Then  I  read  and  expounded  the  Gospel  for  the 
day — which  lasted  half  an  hour — after  which  we  had  a 
selection  of  Prayers  from  the  Prayer  Book,  and  another 
Hymn.  This  was  all  nice  enough,  but  I  like  more  tcork. 
I  knew  no  one  in  the  parish,  and  the  carriage  which  had 
conducted  me  to  the  scene  of  my  duties  on  Saturday 
night,  conveyed  me  thence  on  Monday  morning. 

"  You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  my  heart 
leaped  to  my  mouth  with  joy,  when  I  heard  of  a  Con- 
firmation coming  on  at  Ilsley — my  first  Curacy !  and 
conceived  the  plan  of  preparing  the  young  people,  all  of 
whom  I  knew  and  loved,  for  the  blessed  rite.  The  Rector 
was  away  all  the  week,  so  I  petitioned  for  leave  to  have 
the  use  of  the  Schoolroom  on  Thursday  evenings.  This 
was  freely  granted.  I  received  carte  blanche  to  act  for  the 
best,  and  was  promised  a  bed  at  the  Rectory  to  lay  my 
bones  on  at  night.  Oh,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  blessed  a 
period  that  was  to  me !  .  .  .  Out  of  my  thirty-one  young 
folk,  twenty-eight  were  confirmed  on  the  24th  of  March. 
I  gave  them  r>-n<1<-:i-(iv.x  for  the  following  Thursday,  and 
explained  that  I  should  proceed  from  the  Confirmation 
to  the  Communion  Service.  They  were  all  most  atten- 
tive, and  regular,  and  delightful — poor  creatures  !  I  used 
to  talk  to  them  from  seven  o'clock  till  nine,  and  then  see 
some  of  them,  one  by  one,  at  the  Rectory,  in  private, 
Nothing  could  have  worked  better.  I  will  also  tell  you 
some  day  what  I  said  to  them.  I  am  sure  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  I  exactly  went  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  asking  an  improper  question,  and  asking  none. 
I  thought  of  a  formula,  which  should  leave  the  conscience 
ALL  ALONE  with  GOD,  and  yet  should  render  it  quite  im- 
possible that  the  conscience  should  leave  me,  as  it  per- 

0  2 


196  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

haps  came  to  me,  unawakened.  All  this  was  done,  you 
must  know,  in  the  certainty  that  Mr.  Moore,  not  I,  was 
to  have  the  joy  on  Easter  Day  of  giving  them  their  first 
Communion.  'Judge  of  my  delight  on  being  told,  at 
Worton,  ten  days  before  Easter: — '  My  dear  Mr.  Burgon,— 
Frank  is  coming  back ;  and  will  be  with  us  on  Easter  Day, 
so  that  our  pleasant  Sunday  meetings  are  now  at  an 
end !...'!  saw  the  dawn  of  the  joy  I  had  so  longed  for, 
at  once.  I  had  already  offered  Mr.  Moore  (at  Ilsley)  to 
take  his  Good  Friday  services  for  him.  It  was  my  lot, 
on  the  Monday,  to  have  to  take  young  Tytler — whose 
guardian  I  am, — to  Windsor.  So  I  called  on  Mr.  Moore, 
and  with  a  beating  heart  told  him  that  I  was  free  from 
my  duties  at  Worton.  '  Then  perhaps  you  would  stay 
over  the  Sunday  ? '  was  his  immediate  reply.  I  could  ill 
suppress  my  delight,  as  you  may  suppose  .  .  .  How  I  did 
seem  repaid  in  that  instant  for  all  my  anxieties,  and  the 
long  walks  on  Friday  mornings  over  the  bleak  Berkshire 
Downs,  at  \  past  6  o'clock  in  all  weathers,  when 
sometimes  I  was  haunted  with  strange  misgivings  as  to 
whether  I  was  not  meddling  with  another  man's  parish 
unduly, — doing  no  good — and  much,  much  besides  ! 
Well,  Good  Friday  came, — and  in  two  long  sermons,  I 
humbly  hope,  besides  buoying  up  and  encouraging  my 
twenty-eight,  I  demolished  all  the  excuses  I  had  ever 
heard  against  coming  to  the  Holy  Table  (especially  the 
popular  one  at  Ilsley  ; — '  There  are  some  that  come,  who 
ought  not,'  &c.).  I  announced  a  double  Sacrament  (one 
at  eight,  the  other  after  the  morning  service),  and  ex- 
plained that  all  who  wished  to  come  would  now  be 
without  excuse  .  .  .  Well,  thank  God  ! ! !  I  found  twenty- 
eight  happy  country  faces  awaiting  me  when  I  made  my 
appearance,  fifteen  of  whom  were  of  the  number  of  those 
who  had  been  confirmed.  I  ranged  these  fifteen  before 
the  rails,  and  bade  them  watch  all  that  was  done, — taking 
care  that  they  should  stand,  kneel,  and  respond  properly. 
In  fact,  I  was  Bishop,  Ordinary,  Rector,  and  all, — and 
literally  shed  tears  for  joy  ... 

"At  n,  twenty-three  more  came  ...  Do  you  think 
that  twenty-two  out  of  twenty-eight  newly-confirmed 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     197 

persons  was  a  sufficient  proportion  for  the  first  Com- 
munion ?  I  mean  to  have  all  before  I  have  done.  One 
poor  woman,  aged  20,  was  confined — this  kept  her  away. 
A  child  of  14  cried  to  come  ;  but  a  naughty  grandmother 
kept  her  away  at  the  last  moment,  so  that  four  was  really 
the  sum  of  those  who  absented  themselves.  I  longed  for 
them  all,  and  they  all  knew  it ;  but  I  forced  none  to  come, 
of  course.  In  the  afternoon,  I  felt  that  I  was  preaching 
my  farewell  sermon  :  so  without  any  personalities  I  gave 
all  the  poor  creatures  a  charge  against  falling  away  from 
grace  given  ;  by  preaching  about  the  ejected  Demoniac9 : 
and  I  really  was  very  weary  by  that  time,  for  I  had  had 
four  christenings,  a  burial,  and  so  on.  Next  morning,  I 
wound  all  up  by  a  breakfast  to  ninety- seven  children, 
visited  for  three  or  four  hours,  and  returned  to  Oxford 
....  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  joy  mingled  with  my 
regret  at  leaving  the  village  !  Not  least  of  all  was  I 
pleased,  I  think,  with  the  cheerful  promise  they  almost 
all  gave  me  to  use  a  form  of  family  evening  prayer  after 
supper.  I  enclose  you  a  specimen.  But  you  cannot 
think  how  nice  it  looks  pasted  down  on  cardboard  .... 
Tell  me  also  if  you  do  not  approve  of  my  other  enclosure, 
which  I  got  Mr.  Moore  to  sign,  and  had  pasted  inside 
the  cover  of  twenty-two  Bibles. 

-'  And  now  my  story  is  nearly  done.  When  I  add  that 
I  wrote  seven  sermon*  in  Passion  Week,  besides  the  phy- 
sical occupation  I  have  described,  you  will  not  wonder 
that  I  felt  weary  as  well  as  busy.  On  my  return  from 
Ilsley,  I  felt  the  pressure  of  my  University  Sermon  very 
keenly  ; — but  there  was  our  Oriel  Fellowship  coming  on, 
us  well.  These  two  things,  in  short— and  such  effects  of 
past  fatigue,  that  I  fell  asleep  on  my  chair  every  evening, 
and  slept  till  one  or  two  in  the  morning — entirely  filled 
up  all  my  time ;  and  that  is  why  you  never  heard  from 
me  ....  I  literally  COULD  not  write. 

"  The  University  Sermon  I  speak  of  was  my  first.  It 
was  on  'Inspiration  of  Scripture — The  Doctrine  of 


*  Probably  he  means  the  ejected       text  having  been  St.  Matt.  xii.  33. 
demon   (or  "  unclean  spirit "),    his       34,  35. 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Accommodation  considered1.'  I  mean  to  continue  the 
subject — as  I  took  the  liberty  of  announcing — if  ever  I 
have  an  opportunity  afforded  me,  by  discussing  the 
discrepancies  of  the  four  Gospels,  types,  and  allegories. 
Enough,  however,  of  all  this  selfish  talk.  Though,  by 
the  way,  I  must  still  tell  you  many  things  about  myself. 
I  hope  you  are  not  yet  tired  ? 

"  Well,  and  now  you  ask  me  many  questions,  to  which 
I  am  bound  to  send  you  a  full  and  free  answer.  But 
pray  suffer  me,  after  I  have  turned  my  private  story  in- 
side out  before  you, — as  freely  as  I  would  my  coat, — 
suffer  me  to  add  a  brief,  but  most  honest  prayer  that  you 
will  not  suffer  your  friendship  ever  to  beguile  you  into 
such  a  miserable  thing  as  asking  a  favour  for  one  who 
will  never  ask  a  favour  for  himself.  Your  questions 
point  so  clearly  one  way,  that  it  would  be  mere  hypocrisy 
to  pretend  not  to  see  their  drift.  I  will  answer  them, 
however,  without  hesitation ;  for  you  deserve  it  at  my 
hands.  You  will  not  believe  me  the  less  sincere  in  the 
hearty  assurance  that  I  am  perfectly  content  with  the 
bounties  God  has  already  heaped  upon  me.  You  will 
believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  envy  no  person,  office,  or 
thing  ;  and  desire  nothing  but  liberty  to  serve  God,  as  a 
humble  member  of  thi*  branch  of  the  Church  Catholic,  all 
the  rest  of  my  life,  in  the  way  He  pleases.  And  now  to 
answer  your  question. 

"  If  I  were  an  isolated  being,  I  should  have  long 
since  invested  all  my  little  worldly  resources  in  a 
library,  and  transferred  it  and  its  owner  to  the  most 
demoralized  spot  I  could  find,  where,  with  a  common 
Curate's  stipend,  I  might  simply  have  tried  what  I 
could  make  of  the  despaired-of  side  of  human  nature. 
My  mornings  I  will  give  all  my  days  to  study,  my 
afternoons  to  parish  work,  if  parish  work  is  ever  al- 
lowed me.  But  I  am  not  the  isolated  thing  I  spoke  of ; 

1  This  Sermon  was  probably  the  Essayists.     The   Sixth    Sermon    in 

nucleus  of  his  whole  Volume  on  that    Volume    is     entitled,    "The 

'  Inspiration   and    Interpretation,'  Doctrine    of    Arbitrary    Scriptural 

in    which   he    answers    the    Seven  Accommodation  considered." 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     199 

and  thus  all  my  views  are  other  than  they  would  have 
been. 

••  Whether  I  could  do  most  good  in  town  or  country,  I 
cannot  tell.  I  believe  I  could  be  happy  and  useful  in 
either  sphere.  The  only  place  where  I  could  not  be  happy 
would  be  where  there  was  nothing  to  do.  You  will 
laugh  at  me, — perhaps  pity  me  ;  but  I  would  rather  have 
70,000  than  70  to  look  after.  (The  other  day,  one  who 
knows  me  said  he  thought  the  care  of  'all  the  parishes  in 
England'  would  'just  suit '(!!!)  my  taste.)  How  many 
years  I  should  live,  and  be  able  to  endure  the  anxiety  of 
such  shepherding,  I  know  not.  Neither,  however,  do  I  care : 
for  I  mean  to  remain  single.  I  do  not  think  I  should,  or 
ought  to,  refuse  a  London  parish,  if  it  were  offered  me. 

"  I  suppose  one  cannot  WISH  for  the  post  of  those,  who 
go  to  fill  the  place  of  one  who  has  been  beloved  and  re- 
gretted : — whose  business  it  is  to  unteach,  whose  duty  it 
i>  to  pull  down  and  re-construct.  To  be  exposed  to  con- 
stant odious  contrast ;  to  be  for  ever  taunted  with 
'  what  Mr.  Bennett  used  to  do  ' ;  and  in  self-defence,  to 
be  obliged  to  say,  '  But,  my  friend,  I  think  Mr.  B.  was  a 
very  injudicious  person,  one  who  showed  a  shameful 
disregard  of  Episcopal  authority,  and  one  with  whom  I 
do  by  no  means  agree,' — all  this,  I  say,  must  be  a  heavy 
portion.  One  cannot  icish  for  it!  can  one  ? 

'•  But  show  me  a  church,  in  a  crowded  district,  an  un- 
licked,  shapeless  mass  of  people,  an  income  which  would 
secure  me  against  debt  (for  I  never  have  laid  by — nor  do 
I  desire  to  lay  by — a  penny),  above  all,  let  me  be  called  to 
this  by  the  voice  of  the  Chief  Shepherd  ;  and  then,  if  you 
ever  saw  me  figuring  in  the  papers  with  a  cock  and  bull 
quarrel  about  candlesticks  or  crosses,  or  any  such  tom- 
foolery, tell  me  that  I  have  taken  leave  of  my  senses. 
For  really,  I  should  feel  that  I  had  no  right  to  decline 
such  a  charge.  I  am  a  sword  in  a  sheath.  I  will  not 
draw  myself.  But  any  one  who  likes  to  draw  me  may ; 
and  he  will  find  that  I  can  cut,  and  keep  my  temper. 
At  least,  I  hope  for  God's  help  to  be  all  my  fancy  paints, 
but  alas !  my  experience  so  rarely  sees ! 


2oo  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  HOSE. 

"Bui-ton  Crescent,  Dec.  23,  1851. 

"My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — Since  I  wrote  to  you  last, 
I  have  been  leading  the  same  quiet  student's  life  as 
ever, — considerably  tasked  by  my  friends,  in  divers 
ways  ;  and  therefore  I  am  willing  to  hope  that  I  have 
been  living  usefully.  My  Saturdays,  Sundays,  Mon- 
days are  engrossed  by  the  care  of  a  little  parish — Fin- 
mere — on  the  borders  of  Oxfordshire,  four  miles  from 
Buckingham.  My  Rector,  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Palmer,  has 
two  adjoining  churches — Finmere  and  Mixbury — at  the 
latter  of  which  he  resides. 

"Mr.  Palmer  is  a  clergyman  of  the  George  Herbert 
class.  He  is  absolute  monarch  of  his  parishes,  and  exer- 
cises the  functions  of  Lawyer  and  Physician,  as  well  as 
Parson.  He  is  the  father  and  friend  of  all.  His 
daughters  work  the  schools,  and  indeed  the  parishes, 
like  Curates.  Everything  is  very  primitive.  We  preach 
in  the  morning,  wearing  our  surplice,  and  catechize  in 
the  afternoon  for  twenty  minutes.  The  children  stand 
ten  or  twenty  yards  off,  so  that  all  present  hear,  and,  it 
is  hoped,  are  edified.  The  boys  in  school  all  wear  white 
smocks :  the  greatest  girls  pinafores.  They  are  all  kept 
in  such  complete  subjection  that  till  sixteen,  seventeen  or 
eighteen  they  remain  in  school — and  at  that  age  the  boys 
literally  come  to  be  examined  (as  to  their  heads)  by  a 
wise  woman  of  the  village,  weekly !  .  .  .  I  am  learning, 
as  much  as  I  am  teaching,  at  Finmere. 

"  When  I  enter,  the  bell  stops,  and  all  the  congregation 
rise.  Friday,  the  clerk,  robes  me,  and  when  I  kneel, 
they  all  resume  their  seats.  The  responses  are  literally 
deafening,  and  the  people  for  once  really  do  say  their 
prayers  on  their  knees. 

;'  Not  that  things  are  perfect,  even  at  Finmere.  The 
farmers  do  not  come  to  church !  The  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham's '  failure '  (as  the  people  phrase  it)  is  also  severely 
felt  by  the  poor.  Stowe  is  about  a  mile  or  two  off— 
now  a  deserted  wreck:  but  once  the  source  of  much 
charity,  and  the  cause  of  employment  to  a  large  part  of 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     201 

the  parish.  ...  I  believe  I  shall  remain  at  Finmere  till 

June I   am  working   away  steadily  at   my 

Harmony,  but  slowly.  However,  I  must  not  omit  to  tell 
you  that  there  has  grown  out  of  it  another  work — a 
Plain  Commentary  on  the  Gospels.  As  it  appears,  you 
will  receive  it  from  me,  a  few  Chapters  at  a  time.  It 
will  cost  me  immense  trouble.  I  humbly  hope  that  it 
will  also  be  of  immense  use  .  .  .  Seriously,  it  has  long 
grieved  me  to  think  that  our  farmers,  small  tradesmen, 
and  better  class  of  poor,  should  be  without  a  guide  in  the 
reading  of  the  Book  of  Life.  It  has  seemed  to  me  a 
downright  disgrace  to  the  Church  that  this  class  of 
persons  should  be  driven  to  Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  Scott,  and 
those  sad  blind  guides,  who  show  truth  through  a  dis- 
torting medium.  This  is  a  humble  endeavour,  as  far 
as  the  Gospels  are  concerned,  to  supply  a  wholesome 
diet.  The  Chapters  will  at  first  form  single  tracts.  Mr. 
Armstrong,  to  whom  I  sent  down  a  specimen,  intends  for 
the  sake  of  them  to  continue  the  Parochial  Tracts.  In 
this  way  one  will  be  able  to  give  a  poor  soul  a  Chapter 
to  read,  instead  of  anything  else:  and  I  scarcely  can 
conceive  a  more  useful  form  of  Tractarianisrn. — Here 
also  I  am  sure  of  your  approbation.  The  entire  work 
may  of  course  be  reprinted  afterwards 

"  Ever,  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, 

"  Your  affectionate  Friend  and  Servant, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"  5  Burton  Crescent,  July  8,  1 852. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  I  have  been,  as  I  said,  very  busy  for  ages  past :  and 
my  parish  (little  Finmere,  nigh  Buckingham)  has  been 
the  chief  occasion  of  my  busyness.  The  work  of  a  parish 
priest — that  is,  his  week's  work  compressed  into  four 
days,  or  three — is  always  a  severe  trial:  particularly 
when  an  Oxford  life  is  going  on  side  by  side  with  it. 

"  The   event  in   my  stewardship   (which   ended   last 


202  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Sunday),  most  agreeable  and  striking  in  remembrance, 
is  the  Confirmation  which  was  holden  at  Mixbury,  Mr. 
Palmer's  other  village,  about  two  miles  from  Finmere, 
in  the  spring.  I  had  thirty-nine  persons  to  prepare,  of 
which  thirty-six  were  villagers ;  and  I  cannot  tell  you 
the  comfort  and  the  pleasure  of  those  Lenten  days  of 
preparation.  I  went  to  live  at  Finmere,  in  order  to 
work  the  problem  the  better,  and  had  four  classes,  and 
explained,  urged,  exhorted,  and  rebuked  till  many  a 
time  I  was  quite  worn  out.  However,  the  labour  was 
blessed  by  Him  ('without  whom  nothing  is  strong, 
nothing  holy')  abundantly.  All  my  thirty-six  came 
to  the  LORD'S  Table  on  Easter  Day,  and  a  thrice  happy 
Easter  it  was ;  for  I  scarcely  dared  hope  to  see  some  of 
those  stubborn  knees  bended  of  their  own  free  will. 

"How  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  us  muster  under 
the  'Cross  Tree'  one  fine  morning  in  March,  and  pro- 
ceed two  and  two  along  the  whole  length  of  the  village. 
I  gathered  a  few  of  the  eldest  men  about  me  (to  save 
any  sense  of  shame  by  the  presence  of  so  many  juniors) ; 
and  a  little  behind  us  followed  the  women  and  girls. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken ;  and  it  was  impossible  not  to 
feel  the  reality  of  the  impression  made  both  on  ourselves 
and  on  others,  as  every  household  came  out  of  their 
homes,  and  stood  at  the  cottage  doors  to  see  us  pass. 
I  made  as  many  parents  and  sponsors  accompany  us  as 
was  possible ;  and  on  the  whole  nothing  could  have 
been  more  delightfully  managed,  or  more  successful. 
The  Bishop  praised  us,  and  spoke  kindly  to  me  ;  and  all 
were  pleased.  My  Rector's  pat  on  the  back  went  to  my 
heart.  He  was  ill  in  bed ;  but  the  Bishop  went  to  see 
him,  and  he  sent  me  a  message. 

"  I  must  tell  you  a  plan  I  adopted,  for  I  think  it  was 
a  good  one.  I  numbered  the  tickets  and  the  names,  and 
against  every  name  worthy  of  such  notice,  I  set  a 
character,  in  three  words  or  less.  The  Bishop  was 
pleased,  for  he  was  able  to  know  what  to  say :  and  he 
told  me  afterwards  that  he  knew  the  people,  almost  before 
he  verified  their  numbers. 

''Next  came  the  preparation  of  my  Candidates  for 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     203 

Holy  Communion.  During  Passion-week  I  had  three 
Services  daily  and  two  sermons :  but  the  delight  ex- 
ceeded the  weariness.  And  really  the  amount  of  inno- 
cence and  goodness,  to  which  my  assiduity  introduced 
me,  has  increased  to  an  immense  extent  my  regard  for 
that  human  nature  which  we  hear  so  much  reviled; — has 
made  me  revere  the  holy  estate  of  poverty; — has  taught 
me  a  hundred  lessons. 

Enclosed.  I  send  you  a  copy  of  verses  which  I  pre- 
sented first,  to  all  my  Confirmees,  and  next,  to  all  the 
village.  The  broadside  was  meant  to  be  pasted  against 
the  cottage  wall. 

"  On  Sunday  last  I  officiated  at  Finmere  for  the  last 
time,  and  took  leave  on  the  Monday  morning.  It  was 
sufficiently  affecting.  The  poor  little  dears  all  came  out 
from  the  village  school  to  see  me  drive  off.  and  formed 
(to  my  surprise  and  pleasure,  when  the  gates  were 
unfolded)  a  long  line,  reaching  far  into  the  road.  The 
sight  quite  unmanned  me,  and  haunts  me  still.  They 
are  certainly  a  most  affectionate,  amiable  race  ;  and  pre- 
sent specimens  of  virtue  and  goodness — common  enough, 
I  dare  say ;  but  which  7  have  never  been  so  happy  as  to 
meet  with  elsewhere. — It  must,  in  part  at  least,  be  the 
result  of  fifty  years  of  careful  shepherding  on  the  part 
of  the  venerable  Rector,  a  man  of  primitive  piety,  and 
surprising  goodness.  To  tell  you  all  the  village  polity 
of  Finmere  would  take  a  long  letter,  or  rather  a  long 
pamphlet :  and  without  the  details,  the  story  would  be 
worth  little.  Some  day,  I  hope  I  may  have  the  comfort 
of  talking  to  you  about  it.  Better  still  would  it  be  (if 
it  should  ever  so  please  GOD),  that  I  might  hereafter  show 
you  my  own  copy  of  Finmere  in  a  parish  of  my  own :  for 
I  am  not  Uind,  though  I  am  so  fond  of  the  place  and 
people ;  and  see  clearly  how  all  might  be  abundantly 
improved.  Yet  it  would  be  hard  to  find  its  like ;  and 
indeed,  I  doubt  whether  there  be  another  village  so 
managed  in  England.  And  thus  much  for  Finmere  ;  or 
rather,  thus  little 

"Finmere 'What    Finmere    again?' — No,    I   was 


2O4  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

only  going  to  say  that  my  village  claimed  me,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  very  alarming  illness  of  a  poor  woman, 
all  Commemoration  week :  so  that  I  saw  nothing  of  the 
Bishops— American,  English,  or  Scotch. — who  mustered 
so  thick  in  the  haunts  where  I  generally  abide.  The 
Bishop  of  Oxford  kindly  invited  me  to  Cuddesdon  to 
meet  them  all,  the  Bishop  of  London  included ;  but  I 
was  so  distressed  at  what  was  going  on  chez  woi,  that  I 
could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  go,  after  I  had  promised: 
— which  I  was  sorry  for  afterwards.  By  the  way,  I  must 
tell  you  a  bon  mot  of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter.  A  friend  of 
mine  was  keeping  the  Ladies'  gate  at  the  Theatre  ;  when 
Harry  of  E.  comes  up,  foxy  and  humble,  and  says :  '  I 
suppose,  as  an  old  woman,  I  may  be  permitted  V  . . .  Rather 
rich — eh  ? 

"And  talking  of  Oxford,  I  must  tell  you  that  I  run 
down  on  Saturday,  to  vote  for  Gladstone  and  return. 
His  election  is  certain ;  but  we  want  a  large  majority." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Houghton  Conquest,  Sept.  15,  1852,  Midnight. 

"My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — It  will  be  the  iyth  by  the 
time  this  reaches  your  hands ;  and  I  would  not  have  so 
mournful  an  anniversary  to  pass  without  sending  you  a 
few  lines.  They  will  but  assure  you  of  what  you  know 
already;  namely,  that  I  think  of  you  very  faithfully 
every  day.  Still,  even  such  things  are  worth  telling ! 

"  How  the  years  roll  on !  She  is  seventeen  years  and 
nine  months  old !  Or  does  not  the  dear  child2  rather 
reckon  the  years  of  her  life  from  the  anniversary  of  her 
Death1?  ....  Either  way,  depend  upon  it,  dear  Friend, 
these  anniversaries  are  by  her  most  solemnly  observed, — 
most  faithfully  remembered.  Your  love  and  kindness 
must  be  her  constant  theme.  Your  loneliness  her  con- 
stant thought.  You  the  subject  of  her  constant  prayer. 

"  Pray,  when  you  read  the  Epistles  (indeed  the  Gospels 
themselves ;  for  they  also  are  full  of  it), — pray  notice  how 

2  The  "dear  child"  is  Josephine  adopted  child,  and  her  brother's 
Mair,  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose's  orphan  daughter. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     205 

much  is  said  of  Patience  and  Hope.  Few  persons,  I  think, 
would  believe,  until  their  attention  happened  to  be  called 
that  way,  how  large  a  place  these  two  graces  hold.  I 
was  struck  only  last  night,  in  the  second  Lesson  (Rom. 
xv.),  at  the  mention  in  verse  %5  of  GOD,  as  the  God  of 
Patience,  and  in  verse  13,  as  the  God  of  Hope.  What 
wonder  that  such  an  One  should,  in  verse  33,  be  styled 
the  God  of  PEACE  likewise  ? 

"  This  is  only  to  send  you  my  love,  and  to  request  that 
I  may  be  ever  remembered  as  my  dearest  Mrs.  Rose's 
"  Obliged  and  affectionate  friend, 

«J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Houghton  Conquest,  Ampthill,  Oct.  4,  1852. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"Ask  not  for  my  history  ; — for  the  Knife-Grinder  was 
a  hero  compared  to  your  friend.  If  you  were  a  bird  of 
the  air,  having  access  to  my  window,  you  would  begin  by 
this  time  to  cherish  a  theory  that  birdlime  had  secured 
me  to  my  chair ;  and  that  there  was  the  same  chance  of 
the  parish  Church  taking  a  walk  as  of  my  making  an 
excursion.  Most  assiduously,  indeed,  have  I  kept  my 
seat,  or  been  at  my  place — in  the  House  (as  an  M.P. 
would  say).  But  a  busy  M.P.  would  think  as  con- 
temptuously of  me  as  the  feathered  biped  itself  could  do, 
if  he  had  detected  that  a  few  familiar  pages  had  supplied 
me  with  work  these  many  days.  In  truth  all  I  have 
done  has  been  to  write  about  as  much  Commentary  as 
would,  I  suppose,  fill  a  small  volume  of  400  or  500 
pages.  My  dear  Mrs.  Rose,  being  neither  a  bird  of  the 
air,  nor  an  M.P.,  will  neither  wonder  at  me,  I  know,  nor 
despise :  but  she  will  admit  that  the  man  who  can  plead 
guilty  to  a  Long  Vacation  so  spent,  is  a  man  without  a 
history. 

"  The  more  I  study  the  Gospels,  the  more  their  depth 
amazes  me.  A  curious  illustration  of  this  occurred  the 
other  day.  On  Saturday  evenings  I  begin  my  Sermon : 


206  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

an  over-refinement  of  taste,  I  fear  it  is,  which  prevents 
me  from  pouring  my  heart  and  mind  out  on  paper  in 
anything  like  a  decent  space  of  time,  unless  I  feel  the 
spur  actually  pricking.  The  certainty,  at  6  o'clock,  that 
unless  I  begin  in  an  hour,  it  will  be  midnight  before  I 
finish,  secures  a  beginning  by  8  o'clock.  Accordingly, 
when  it  was  near  upon  that  hour,  I  transcribed  the 
Parable  of  the  Hid  Treasure.  (I  had  come  down  to  it, 
in  regular  order,  in  my  last  four  or  five  Sermons.)  For 
a  few  moments  I  hesitated  as  to  the  desirableness  of 
adding  the  Parable  of  the  Pearl,  and  contrasting  the  two 
Parables  together.  But  I  wisely  abstained.  Tell  it  not 
in  Gath :  but  the  clock  struck  2  when  I  laid  down  my 
pen ; — and  I  had  not  yet  finished.  The  last  four  pages  of 
the  Sermon  opened  upon  me  quite  a  new  thought,  for  the 
first  time,  as  I  wrote  ; — at  least  it  struck  me  as  a  kind  of 
novelty.  The  fulness  of  that  short  Parable  so  marvel- 
lously presented  itself  to  my  mind,  as  I  went  on,  that  I 
crept  to  bed  literally  with  a  feeling  of  amazement. 

"  And  if  the  microscope  applied  to  GOD'S  Works  reveals 
more  and  more  of  wonder,  shall  it  be  thought  strange  that 
a  higher  power  of  attention  directed  to  His  Word  shall 
also  elicit  more  and  more  things  to  marvel  at  ? 

"  Another  undertaking  which,  as  you  may  suppose,  has 
occupied  no  small  share  of  my  attention  and  time  (and 
of  Rose's  also),  has  been  our  Large  Prints,  of  which  Part  I 
will  be  published  in  about  ten  daj's, — and  a  copy,  of  course, 
will  wait  on  yourself.  It  may  seem  strange,  but  (as  the 
publisher  himself  admitted  the  other  day),  volumes  of  let- 
ters have  been  written  by  me  on  this  subject.  Every  print 
has  been  the  subject  of  correspondence  with  publisher, 
artist,  engraver,  printer.  It  has  really  seemed  endless. 
However,  twelve  prints  are  now  ready  ;  and  the  remain- 
ing twenty-four  will  be  issued  before  Xmas.  We  have 
then  two  new  schemes — two  more  devices  in  the  same 
line,  ready  to  set  afloat.  I  am  determined  to  follow  up 
a  thing  I  am  so  fond  of— a  thing  which  I  know  to  be  so 
useful,  and  so  much  wanted ;  a  thing,  too,  where  I  see  a 
mighty  field  open,— and  ourselves  without  a  rival ! 

"  A  Roman  Catholic  publisher  offered  to  take  300  copies, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     207 


if  Hering  would  leave  out  the  texts !  (I  suppose  to  slip 
iii  the  Douay  Version  instead  of  our  own.)  You  may 
easily  guess  the  answer  he  got.  Masters  the  other  day 
proposed  to  '  go  snacks '  (if  you  know  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase).  He  also  got  repulsed,  and  with  considerable 
slaughter. 

"  The  association  of  thought  is  obvious  3.  How  great 
an  event  has  happened  within  these  few  da}rs !  The 
Duke !  I  hardly  know  whether  to  be  glad  or  sorry  that 
I  am  away  from  Oxford.  I  rejoice  in  Lord  Derby  as  a 
man  who  cannot'  be  fond  of  the  Blue  Book4  ;  but  I  feel  no 
enthusiasm  on  his  behalf.  I  am  content  to  see  him 
appointed,  and  to  be  spared  the  labour  of  taking  a  side. 

"  I  must  tell  you — since  I  tell  you  all  my  little  secrets — 
that  I  have  been  invited  to  stand  next  year  (when  it  will 


3  The  mention  of  "  repulsing  with 
great  slaughter "  gives  rise  to  the 
thought  of  the  great  Captain  and 
Warrior  of  the  Age,  the  Day  of 
whose  Funeral  Burgon  celebrates  in 
his  little  Volume  of  Poems. 

1  "  Sep.  14,  1852.  Oxford  lost 
her  noble  Chancellor,  England  her 
noblest  son,  Arthur  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington. As  soon  as  the  shock 
occasioned  by  his  loss  was  past, 
Alma  Mater,  as  in  duty  bound, 
began  to  look  round  for  an  '  Almus 
Pater,'  in  his  place.  Lord  Harrow- 
by  and  Lord  Ellesmere  (good  men, 
and  highly  respected,  but  '  not 
quite  equal  to  the  place')  were  only 
named  to  be  put  aside.  That  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter  should  have  been 
for  a  moment  thought  of  was  only  a 
proof  of  (not  hero-worship,  but) 
Bishop-worship  in  a  few  ultra- 
Tractarians.  Lord  Derby,  once 
named,  was  at  once  our  future 
Chancellor  :  every  one  retiring  be- 
fore him  as  '  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place.'  On  the  I2th  of  Octo- 


ber he  was  unanimously  elected 
Chancellor,  in  the  usual  form  of 
elections  in  Convocation."  [G.  V. 
Cox's  'Recollections  of  Of  ford,' 
p.  386,  and  Ed.] 

"The  Blue  Book,"  of  which 
Burgon  thinks  that  Lord  Derby 
"  cannot  be  fond,"  is  "  the  Report 
of  Her  Majesty's  Commissioners, 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  State, 
Discipline,  Studies,  and  Revenues 
of  the  University  and  Colleges  of 
Oxford,"  which  had  appeared  in  the 
previous  May.  It  was  a  pitce  (Je 
resistance  for  any  one,  that  "  bulky 
Blue  Book  of  800  pages."  Mr.  Cox 
tells  a  touching  story  (on  the  au- 
thority of  the  Duke's  housekeeper) 
of  his  being  engaged  on  it  the  night 
before  his  death.  "  He  was  then, 
I  think,  going  to  bed,  and  it  was 
late.  He  had  with  him  the  Oxford 
Blue  Book,  with  a  pencil  in  it ;  and 
he  said  to  Lord  Charles  Wellesley, 
who  was  with  him,  '  I  shall  never 
get  through  it,  Charles,  but  I  must 
work  on.'"  [Footnote  on  p.  386.] 


2o8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

perhaps  become  vacant)  for  the  Gresham  Readership  in 
Divinity.  It  would  be  a  nice  thing  to  get.  I  have  been 
Jilting  myself  for  some  years  now.  It  is  time  I  think  to 
come  out  with  something. 

"  Dear  me !  and  how  that  word  '  out '  reminds  me  of 
one  omission !  for  it  reminds  me  of  my  Harmony,  and 
of  your  request  to  be  informed  of  one  which  you  might 
use! 

"  I  recommend  to  your  use  a  little  thing,  price  6cL  I 
think,  printed  by  Parker  of  Oxford.  It  occurs  at  the 
end  of  a  little  half-crown  book,  called  ' Daily  steps  toward* 
Heaven'  but  may  be  bought  separately.  (The  Book  itself 
is  not  bad  to  give  to  a  humble  friend,  or  even  to  read 
oneself,  if  one  were  a  little  more  '  poor  in  spirit '  than 
(alas !)  I  am.)  ....  It  will  give  you  all  you  will  want  in 
a  small  space,  and  is  of  such  a  compass  that  you  can 
supply  others  with  it,  in  case  of  need. 

"  But  no  Harmony  extant  is  worth  much  ;  and  none  can 
be  depended  on.  Still,  something  is  better  than  nothing  ; 
and  if  ypu  are  ever  in  doubt,  write  to  me,  and  I  will  give 
you  the  best  answer  I  know  how  to  give,  by  return  of 
post. 

"  Remember  that  the  Sermon  in  St.Matthew  v.,  viv  vii., 
and  that  in  St.  Luke  vi.  are  the  same.  The  events  in 
St.  Matthew  iv.  18,  St.  Mark  i.  16,  and  St.  Luke  v.  1-1 1 
are  identical.  This  is  certain  5.  How  the  little  Harmony 
I  recommend  represents  the  matter,  I  know  not. 

"  Ever  my  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, 
"  Your  obliged  and  affectionate  faithful  friend, 

"J.  W.  B." 

5  The  reader  will  recognise  here  mind,  bat  on  which  others,  equally 

one  of  J.  W.  B.'s  foibles,  connected  qualified  to  speak,  differed  from  him. 

with  the  intensity  of  his  character, —  as  absolutely   indubitable  and   in- 

the  habit  of  speaking  of  points  on  controvertible. 
which  he  himself  had  made  up  his 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     209 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"Oriel,  April  21,  1853. 
"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — 

"  Finmere  still  takes  up  a  great  deal  of  my  time,  and 
has,  till  lately,  occupied  a  huge  share  of  my  thoughts ; 
for  my  Rector  has  been  reported  as  dying,  and  I  have 
been  looking  for  an  immediate  termination  of  my  duties. 
....  Only  this  day,  he  is  thought  to  be  actually  mend- 
ing !  So  bad  was  he  that  his  sons  withdrew  from  Oxford 

to  be  with  him  and  the  family This  looked  serious, 

and  teas  serious.  Thank  GOD  he  is  better  !  for  verily  the 
welfare  of  many  hundreds — widows,  and  sick  persons, 

and  young  children — depends  on  his  frail  life I 

know  they  prayed  for  it.  I  know  too  that  it  was  against 
his  will.  He  asked  me  not  to  pray  for  anything  but  that 
his  faith  should  not  fail  in  the  hour  of  Death.  Who  shall 
say  that  this  amendment  is  not  in  answer  to  a  strong 
prayer '?...... 

"  Believe  me  ever,  my  dearest  Mrs.  Rose,  with  many 
thanks  for  your  kind  note, 

"  Ever  your  affectionate, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"Osnaburgh  Street,  Jan.  8,  1849. 

"  My  dear  Hensley, — dear  affectionate  old  Hensley, 
—I  was  very  happily  ordained  on  the  24th  —  the 
solemnest  thing  I  ever  experienced.  I  felt  the  blessing 
of  many  prayers  in  my  inmost  spirit ;  and  many  I  know 
were  poured  out  for  me  before  the  day  and  upon  it.  The 
examination  at  Cuddesdon  was  most  apostolically  con- 
ducted. Every  thing  was  quite  perfect.  The  Bishop 
kindly  made  me  read  the  Gospel  in  the  Cathedral. 

"  We  are  both  too  fond  of  the  Gospel  to  differ  much, 
but  we  differ  a  little — and  you  must  come  round  three- 
fourths  of  that  little — while  I.  on  my  side,  will  cheerfully 

VOL.   I.  P 


210  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

budge  the  remaining  one-fourth You  know  my  dis- 
like to  Romanism  :  but  we  must  be  very  careful  how  we 
teach  our  people  the  principles  of  dissent,  while  we  think 
of  nothing  less,  but  desire  simply  to  acquaint  them  with 
the  freedom  of  the  Gospel. 

"Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  we  are  born  in 
Sin ;  nothing  more  certain  than  that  Baptism  is  a  new 
Birth  ;  nothing  more  certain  than  that  Conversion  is  still 
often  needed.  We  have  no  life  except  through  CHRIST, 
and  in  Him.  We  get  this  life  by  the  Sacraments.  The 
one  grafts  us  into  His  Body ;  the  other  makes  us  actual 
partakers  of  it.  By  thus  becoming  partakers  of  the  Man- 
hood of  CHRIST,  we  hope  for  resurrection.  '  The  Church, 
which  is  His  Body,'  is  the  dispenser,  the  channel,  of  His 
graces.  .  .  .  He  who  fails  to  teach  the  people  committed 
to  his  charge  this  doctrine,  keeps  back  the  truth  from 

them,  and  has  no  consistent  scheme  of  Salvation 

The  talking  to  a  set  of  poor  wondering  people  about 
'  CHRIST,  and  Him  crucified,'  is  all  well :  but  it  is  not 

enough They  must  be  told  how  they  are  to  become 

partakers  of  Him,  and  must  be  urged  to  partake.  They 
want  to  be  shown  their  interest  in  this  precious  SAVIOUR, 
which  does  not  consist  in  talking  about  His  Cross,  but  in 
wearing  it  in  their  hearts. 

"  Now,  dear  Alfred,  don't  be  angry  with  all  this  ;  but 
let  me  know  where  you  stick,  and  I  will  help  you  over  the 
stile,  if  I  can. 

"  Do  not  think  me  growing  polemic.  I  like  it  less  and 

less  daily.  You,  I  like  more  and  more My  kind 

regards  to  Mrs.  Hensley. 

"  Affectionately  yours, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"34,  Osnaburgh  Street,  April  6,  1850. 

"  My  very  dear  Hensley, — 

"I  hope  your  blood  has  been  boiling  about  the  Gorham 
Case.  Be  sure  and  read  the  Bishop  of  Exeter's  letter. 
Take  care  and  hold  fast  the  Doctrine  of  the  Catechism 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     211 

and  Prayer  Book  generally.  It  is  the  very  foundation  of 
true  religion.  How  strange  it  is  to  see  men  mystifying 
themselves  about  the  meaning  of  the  word  regenerate. 
Just  as  if  it  meant  made  indefi'dilly  holy ! ! ! 

••  Ever,  dear  Hensley,  your  affectionate  friend, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"Finmere,  June  24,  1852. 

"Dear  affectionate  Heart, — Many  thanks  for  your 
letter,  which  contains  the  assurance  of  your  kind  remem- 
brance, and  therefore  contains  the  most  precious  thing 
you  can  send  me.  You  are  very  kind  to  write  me  a 
few  lines  so  often,  and  to  persevere  in  loving  one  who 
sends  you  so  few  tokens  of  his  regard. 

"  However,  if  I  write  seldom,  remember  that  it  is  be- 
cause I  am  very  busy,  not  because  I  am  very  changed. 
I  think  often  of  your  kindness,  and  I  like  to  think  of  it, 
and  of  you.  We  had  many  happy  days  together  at  dear 
old  Worcester :  and  the  memory  of  them  cannot  happily 
be  ever  taken  away  from  either  of  us. 

"  I — who  have  no  wife,  nor  am  likely  to — rather  cling 
to  the  past,  than  reach  out  to  the  future.  You  are 
blessed  in  a  life  for  which  you  are  very  fit ;  and  may 
well  have  forward-looking  thoughts. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  we  shall  be  on  opposite  sides 
at  the  Election.  I  am  not  for  Maynooth,  Jews,  or  Romish 
Ecclesiastical  Titles,  but  I  am  for  Gladstone. 

"  Affectionately  yours,  dear  old  man, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  G.  C.  RENOUARD. 

"Oriel,  Dec.  7,  1849. 

"  My  dear  Friend, — 

"  This  day  has  been  an  eventful  one  for  Oxford.  Whe- 
ther I  am  right  in  adopting  that  saying  of  the  old  Greek, 
*H6e  j]  f)fj.(pa  TOIS  "EAArjo-i  ^eyoAcov  KCLK&V  ap£(i,  or  not,  re- 
mains to  be  seen.  I  can  but  fear  the  worst.  A  majority 
of  fourteen  in  Convocation  voted  in  favour  of  the  estab- 

P  2 


2i2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

lishment   of  a  fourth  school — namely,  Modern  History. 
We  did  indeed  by  a  large  majority  reject  the  details  of 
this  novelty:    but  the  principle  has  been  admitted6, — 
yielded  to  the  pressure  from  without, — and  I  can  but 
think  it  a  most  dangerous  step.     Denison  spoke  well ; 
and  his  'nolumus  Germanizari '  elicited  a  very  hearty 
cheer :  we  all  flatter  ourselves  also  that  we  are  in  most 
Conservative  trim :    but,  rightly  or  wrongly,  we  have 
fallen  into  the  weakness  of  yielding  to  the  spiiit  of  the 
age.    ...  ... 

"  Ever  your  obliged  and  most  affectionate, 

"  JOHNNY." 

To  THE  REVEREND  G.  C.  RENOUARD. 

"Oriel,  Feb.  8,  1851. 

"  My  dearest  Friend, — 

"  I  have  sometimes  thought  I  would  make  a  collection 
of  curious  Epitaphs.  It  should  be  a  election  rather.  At 
times  one  meets  with  things  that  extremely  charm  one, 
and  surely  such  '  composures '  (as  our  forefathers  would 
say)  fall  under  a  very  affecting  category !  The  tuneful 
sigh  over  the  dead ! — Even  if  the  thought  be  false,  and 
the  diction  incorrect,  it  is  always  an  interesting  matter 
that  it  should  be  what  the  living  have  written  over  the 
dead  !  Even  if  the  epitaph  begin,  as  one  I  often  see — 

'  Near  this  monument  of  human  Inst'  ability.' 

there  is  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  human  fact  that  some- 
one was  so  foolish  as  to  write  such  nonsense,  when  his 
heart  was  full  of  grief Tell  me  some  day  if  you 

'  Mr.  C.  V.  Cox,  in  his  '  Secollec-  School  was  affirmed,  lut  the  detail^ 
tionsof  Oxford'  [Macmillan,  1870],  were  leftfor  recontidtration." — The 
says  of  the  occasion  referred  to  [p.  speeches  in  Convocation  were  al- 
367] ;  "  Dec.  7.  The  new  Examina-  ways  at  that  time  in  Latin ;  and 
tion  Statute  was  again  put  to  the  the  celebrated  dictum  of  Arch- 
vote.  Its  main  features  were  ap-  deacon  Denison  which  Burgon  here 
proved  and  carried,  but,  as  four  or  refers  to  was,  "  Nolumus  Universi- 
five  of  the  clauses  were  rejected,  it  tates  Angliae  Germanizari," — "  We 
again  came  out  of  Convocation  in  a  will  not  that  the  Universities  of 
mangled  and  damaged  state.  The  England  should  be  Germanized." 
iiulitution  of  a  Modern  History 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE  :  SECOND  PERIOD.     2  1 3 

ever  kept  any  register  of  the  kind An  absurd 

line  occurs  to  me, — the  last,  I  think,  in  the  Epitaph  on  a 
Lady  Mary  Saltonstall  (or  some  such  name)  in  Ivor 
Church,  Bucks, — 

'  She  broke  the  bank  of  virtue  when  she  died.' 

But  to  come  back  a  little  from  this  digression.  My 
Oxford  life  is  an  unvaried  round  of  quiet  study,  broken 
by  pupils  considerably,  I  confess  ;  but  the  taking  of  them, 
I  hold  to  be  a  duty  under  the  circumstances.  All  the 
leisure  I  can  command,  however, — and  in  Vacations  my 
leisure  is  considerable, — I  devote  to  my  '  Harmony  of  the 

Gosjjefs,'  which  promises  to  be  my  Opus  Jfagnum 

The  Harmony  itself  has  been  long  since  achieved,  but 
the  Notes  and  Dissertations  have  grown  under  my  hand 
till  I  almost  tremble.  It  is  an  alarming  fact  to  have 
convinced  oneself  of,  that  the  majority  of  writers  on  the 
Gospels  have  left  many  omissions  to  be  supplied,  many 
mistakes  to  be  rectified,  by  we.  That  some  little  Rose 
will  hereafter  wonder  at  the  omissions  and  mistakes  of 
'  Uncle  John,'  is  more  than  likely ; — but  that  matters  not. 
It  is  something  to  have  advanced  the  study  of  the  most 
precious  thing  in  the  whole  world  (which  I  take  the 
Gospels  to  be) ;  and  that  I  humbly  hope  I  may  be  the  un- 
worthy instrument  of  doing. — One  inquiry  leads  to 
another ;  and  there  is  scarcely  a  section  of  importance 
in  the  Gospels  which  does  not  involve  the  necessity  of 
traversing  new  fields  of  knowledge.  Thus — to  instance 
the  question  of  the  Passover  only, — I  have  been  led  to  in- 
vestigate more  topics  than  most  persons  would  believe. 
Some  knowledge  of  the  Talmud;  some  familiarity  with 
ditt'erent  texts  ;  some  appreciation  of  the  respective  merits 
of  Translations ;  some  knowledge  of  Jewish  Antiquities  ; 
some  acquaintance  with  the  opinions  of  the  Fathers  ;  some 
kind  of  review  of  the  controversy  ;  some  slight  astronomi- 
cal information, — these  and  the  like  of  these  inquiries  I 
am  continually  obliged  to  undertake.  It  is  marvellous 
what  a  thnnnxjh  knowledge  and  how  much  incidental 
information  is  got,  when  one  has  to  study  in  this  way 
for  oneself,  unaided. — To  be  brief,  I  trust  I  shall  be  ready 
by  Xmas,  1851. 


214 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 


"  I  have  also  compiled  a  little  Glossary  of  the  County 
of  Beds 7.  Poor  Tritton,  Earle  (Anglo-Saxon  Professor), 
and  I  used  to  meet  weekly  to  discuss  it.  Since  his 
derangement,  another  of  our  fellows  supplies  his  place ; 
and  we  three  form  a  kind  of  Philological  Club  8,  meeting 


7  Some  excerpts  from  this  Glossary 
will  be  presented  in  Appendix  B. 

8  The    following    verses,    found 
among  J.  W.  B.'s  papers,  but  not  in 
his  handwriting,  must,  it  is  thought, 
refer  to  this  Club  at  a  subsequent 
period  of  its  existence,  four  mem- 
bers— not   three — being  mentioned 
in  the  verses. 

"  Many-sided  are  their  feasts, 
Poets,  critics,  linguists,  priests, — 
Fish,  and  flesh,  and  fatted  bird, 
Kelished  by  some  piquant  word. 
Eatin',  talkin', — talkin',  eatin', — 
Burgon,  Earle,  and  Jones,  and 

Chretien 

For  one  prey  the  country  scour, 
While  another  they  devour  ; 
Though    the    bush    be  yet  un- 

scanned, 

Sprinkle  salt  on  bird  in  hand  ; 
Or,  when  satiate  and  replete 
With  tea,    and  toast,  and  eggs, 

and  meat, 

Plunge  into  the  brakes  of  eld 
Full  cry,  where  the  leader  smelled. 
Jones,  and  Earle,  and  Chretien 

urge  on 

Bounds  of  Asiatic  Burgon ; 
Burgon,  Jones,  and  Chretien  curl 
In  and  out  round  Saxon  Earle  ; 
Chretien,    Burgon,    Earle    give 

tones 

Discrepant  from  Celtic  Jones  ; 
Jones,  and  Earle,  and    Burgon 

meetin" 

Snuff  the  track  of  Frankiah  Chre- 
tien; 


'  View  him — twig  him — bite  him 

— seize  him — 
At  him — catch  him — hold  him — 

tease  him  ! ' 

By  sharp  encounter  of  their  wits 
Quarry  caught  is  torn  to  bits, 
Minced,   mauled,   dissected,    an- 
alysed, 

And  catawampously  concised ; 
Or,  if  their  effort  fails  to  nab  it, 
(As  when,  to  earth  sly  Reynard 

running, 

The  pack  canine  pursues  a  rabbit,) 
Glossarial  hunt  subsides  to  pun- 
ning." 

In  Burgon's  Journal  of  Nov. 
1852,  we  find  this  entry:  "24 
Wed.  Glossarial  Breakfast  at 
Jones's."  And  in  the  Journal  of 
the  following  month ;  "  Dec  i , 
Wed.  Glossarial  Breakfast  with 
C.  P.  C."  The  above  verses  (on 
which  is  written  in  pencil,  Stowe, 
Dec.  1852  ?)  doubtless  refer  to  these 
breakfasts.  The  description  of  the 
Club,  which  he  gives  to  Mr.  Re- 
nouard  early  in  the  preceding  year, 
was  probably  shortly  after  its  forma- 
tion. The  original  members  had 
been  three,  but  in  course  of  time 
became  four. 

Professor  Earle  writes  thus  of  the 
Philological  Club  in  question;  "It 
was  the  most  informal  thing  in  the 
world;  but  it  went  on  for  a  long 
time,  I  think  several  years.  Perhaps 
from  1849  or  1850  to  1855  or  -6. 
It  always  consisted  of  four  members, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     215 


at  breakfast  in  one  another's  rooms  to  discuss  etymologies 
and  the  like.  How  I  wish  you  were  one  of  us !  It  is 
really  very  amusing.  I  think  I  have  been  a  benefactor 
to  the  Club,  by  enacting  that  each  of  us  must  always  come 
furnished  with  a  fact  (for  the  Glossary  has  long  since 
been  discussed  all  through).  The  result  is  that  we  really 
do  something  (besides  eating  a  mutton  chop)  as  often  as 
we  meet You  shall  have  our  three  last ;  and  per- 
haps it  may  induce  you  to  supply  me  with  a  fact,  which 
shall  duly  be  attributed  to  its  author,  next  Thursday, 
when  the  breakfast  is  in  my  rooms. 

"  i  (Earle).  That '  bridal '  is  a  corruption  of  '  bride-ale ' 

(i.  e.  a  wedding  feast). 
Also,  that  '  near '  is  the  comparative  of  nigh  ( = 

nigher ) :  that '  nearer '  is  a  solecism  ; — at  least,  is  a 

double  comparative 9. 


and  the  original  four  were  Burgon, 
Chretien,  myself,  and  I  think  Poste. 
It  must  have  been  when  Poste  went 
off  to  London  that  Basil  Jones  took 
his  place.  It  was  the  duty  of  every 
member  to  bring  one  Philological 
Fact  with  him,  and  to  entertain 
(i.  e.  give  breakfast)  in  his  turn. 
The  four  facts  supplied  material  of 
conversation,  which  seldom  fell  short, 
but  certainly  did  sometimes  fall, 
as  the  satirist  says,  into  punning. 
Burgon  was  very  ready  to  seize  the 
chance  of  a  pun.  .  .  .  Burgon's  philo- 
logical skill  was  not  great;  but, 
what  was  of  vastly  more  import  to 
the  hilarity  of  our  most  delightful 
meetings,  he  had  a  relish  for  the 
subject  such  as  I  never  saw  exceeded 
in  any  man.  Once,  my  fact  was  the 
history  of  bridal  (a  fact  at  that  time 
by  no  means  generally  known) ;  and 
the  point  was  that  the  second 
syllable  is  not  a  Latin  adjectival 
ending,  as  it  is  in  nuptial,  but  the 
vulgar  English  word  ale.  This  he 


refused  to  credit ;  and,  whenever  it 
was  recurred  to,  it  was  ever  the 
same,  'No,  no!  a  joke's  a  joke;  but 
we  must  draw  the  line  somewhere.' " 

Burgon's  strong  tendency  to  ety- 
mology, and  the  unsouudness  of 
some  of  the  etymologies  which  he 
himself  proposed,  have  already  come 
before  the  reader  in  some  of  his 
earlier  letters  to  Mr.  Renouard. 
The  author's  cordial  thanks  are 
due  not  only  to  Professor  Earle  for 
the  letter  just  given,  but  also  to 
the  present  Bishop  of  St.  David's 
(the  "Celtic  Jones"  of  the  verses) 
for  having  furnished  him  with  his 
own  reminiscences  of  the  Club,  and 
with  suggestions  as  to  how  to  obtain 
further  information  on  the  subject. 
The  Bishop  thinks  that  Mr.  Poste 
was  in  all  probability  the  author  of 
the  verses  above. 

•  Both  these  etymologies,  pro- 
posed by  Professor  Earle,  may  be 
accepted  without  hesitation,  if 
Skeat's  '  Etymological  Dictionary ' 


216  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  a  (Chretien).  An  attempt  to  show  that  '  bath '  in 
English,  and  '  bain '  in  French,  both  come  from  a 
common  root.  However,  it  was  deemed  not 
proven. 

"  3  (J-  W.  B.)  A  very  humble  contribution,  viz.  That 
the  village  opposite  Dorchester  Church,  just  over 
the  river,  which  flows  past  its  east  end,  is  called 
'  Overy,'  and  that  there  was  once  a  little  bridge 
connecting  the  banks.  (Compare  St.  Mary  Overy, 
in  Southwark,  and  London  Bridge.) 
Also,  that  'shrew'  was  used  in  the  i4th  or  i5th 
century  to  denote  one  of  the  male  sex. 

"  I  beg  my  dear  Mr.  Renouard  to  believe  me  ever  to 
be  his  much  obliged  and 

"  Most  affectionate  Friend  and  Servant, 

"JOHN  W.  BURGON." 


FROM  THE  REV.  W.  J.  PALMER  TO  THE  REV.  J.  W.  BURGON. 

Mixbury,  June  8,  1852. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — 

"  I  have  been  engaged  of  late,  and  still  am,  in  looking 
over  and  reconsidering  my  Sermons  which  have  been 
often  delivered,  but  probably  never  will  again.  If  I  meet 
with  any  I  may  think  you  would  like  to  see,  I  will  put 
them  aside.  I  will  freely  impart  to  you  whatever  my 
experience  in  the  fifty  years  service  of  a  small  country 
parish  may  suggest,  which,  however,  is  not  much  more 
than  a  sense  of  my  own  deficiency,  I  assure  you.  But  I 
know  now  what  you  are  looking  forward  to,  and  would 
very  gladly  serve  your  purpose.  You  must  again  forgive 
me  for  saying  that  you  must  check  that  ardour  of  spirit, 
which  prompts  you  to  fancy  what  you  desire  to  find,  and 
leads  you  to  exertion  and  expenditure,  which  must  ex- 
haust your  strength  and  means.  '  Our  Minister,'  say  the 
poor  people  now,  '  must  be  the  richest  man  in  the  world ' ; 
in  that  /  know  they  are  mistaken.  But  they  say  also, 

is  to  be  considered,  as  it  may  safely       etymologies  sanctioned  by  it  beyond 
be,  as  an  authority  which  puts  the      the  reach  of  controversy. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  SECOND  PERIOD.     217 

perhaps,  '  He  must  be  the  best '  ;  that  they  find  it  so  I  do 
not  wonder.  But  I  know  there  you  feel  they  are  mis- 
taken. There  are  none  at  Finrnere,  I  do  assure  you.  who 
have  not  the  most  ample  cause  for  saying,  '  We  have 
done  those  things  we  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  have 
left  undone  those  things  we  ought  to  have  done,'  and  still 
is  there  '  no  health  in  us.'  You  will  be  able  to  keep 
going  longer,  if  you  go  not  quite  so  fast.  I  hope  you  will 
not  be  hurt.  I  hope  you  will  not  be  displeased,  I  hope  you 
will  not  be  angry,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  very  maid- 
servant says  of  you,  and  she  herself  is  not  a  slow  one, 
'  his  feet  are  on  the  other  side  the  gate  and  his  head  in 
the  study.' 

"  I  am,  my  very  dear  Sir, 

"  Yours  most  truly  and  faithfully. 

"W.  J.  PALMER." 

FROM  THE  REV.  W.  J.  PALMER  TO  THE  REV.  J.  W. 
BURGON. 

"Finmere,  July  23,  1853. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Burgon, — I  have  just  laid  my  hand  upon 
a  Fable  or  Allegory  of  '  The  two  Caterpillars,'  the  author 
of  which  I  don't  know,  but  which  I  remember  to  have 
had  from  my  Tutor,  Mr.  Jones  of  Nayland,  about  sixty 
years  ago.  I  send  you  in  this  a  copy  of  it l,  and  request 
(if  you  think  fit)  that  it  may  be  made  the  subject  of  a 
Cottage  Print,  if  any  set  is  likely  to  be  on  hand  which 
would  admit  of  such  an  ingredient.  I  think  some  such 
clever  designer  as  yourself  or  your  brother-in-law,  Rose, 
might  easily  adorn  the  margin  of  the  letterpress  with  a 

1  The  Fable   is   the   Story  of  a  worth  preserving,  as,  besides  giving 

Caterpillar,  which  was  warned  by  a  glimpse   into   the   devoutness  of 

another  insect  of  the  same  species  the   writer's    mind,    it    shows    his 

not  to  attempt  to  crawl  to  a  neigh-  appreciation    of    one    of    Burgon's 

bouring  and  more   attractive  leaf,  strong  points, — his  readiness  with 

but,    in    defiance  of  the  warning,  his  pencil,  and  powers  of  pictorial 

making    the   attempt,   fell    to    the  representation.     Mr.  Palmer  was  a 

ground   and  was  killed,  and    thus  model  Rector,  and  Burgon  always 

lost     the    chance    of    becoming    a  regarded  him  as  such, 
butterfly.      Mr.  Palmer's  letter  is 


2i8  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

few  vignettes  of  Caterpillars  and  Butterflies,  in  a  way 
likely  to  catch  the  eye  and  please  the  fancies,  and  so 
perhaps  indelibly  fix  upon  the  minds  of  some  a  realiza- 
tion as  it  were  of  the  change  we  are  taught  to  believe 
that  we  also  shall  undergo,  and  the  care  which  is  neces- 
sary on  our  part  now,  to  preserve  the  hope  of  that  blessed 
end  alive  upon  the  table  of  our  minds. 

"  I  am, 

"  Yours  ever  faithfully  and  truly, 
"  W.  J.  PALMER." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   THIRD  PERIOD. 

From  his  leaving  Finnic  re  (June  6,  1853)  to  the  commence- 
'ment  of  his  tour  in  Egypt,  the  Arabian  Desert,  and  Palestine 
(Sept.  10,  1861). 

BURGOX  experienced  a  keen  pang  in  parting  from  Fin- 
mere,  though  his  labours  there,  added  to  the  work  of 
having  to  prepare  six  Lectures  on  the  Interpretation  of 
Holy  Scripture  for  delivery  in  Oriel  Coll.  Chapel  [see 
above  p.  175],  "brought  on"  (as  he  tells  Mrs.  Hugh 
James  Rose  in  a  letter  dated  June  21,  1853)  "erysipelas  A.D.  18 
in  the  foot,  swelled  glands,  headache,  and  a  pack  of  "•' 
horrors."  "  It  was  very  sad  parting  from  my  Finmere 
folks,"  he  writes  ;  "  very  touching  also  are  the  letters  the 
dear  little  children  continue  to  send  me  thence.  But  it 
is  wholesome  to  be  rooted  up  ; — I  know  it  and  feel  it ; 
and  I  have  left  them  in  good  hands,  so  that  I  have  no 
regrets  but  selfish  ones  to  ponder  over."  Earlier  in  the 
same  letter  he  announces  to  his  correspondent  an  impend- 
ing event  of  the  deepest  domestic  interest  to  him  and  his ; 
"  Dear  Helen  "  (his  youngest  sister)  <;  is  going  to  be  mar- 
ried to  her  and  to  our  very  old  friend,  C.  L.  Higgins,  of 
Turvey  Abbey,  Beds.  It  is  a  source  of  real  satisfaction 
to  us  all,  as  you  may  imagine  ....  and  it  seems  to  be 
like  a  special  blessing  bestowed  by  Providence — I  mean 
Almighty  God — on  myself."  The  nuptial  knot  was  knit 
by  his  own  ministry  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  Mag- 
dalen, Munster  Square,  Regent's  Park,  on  the  26th  of 
July,  1853. 


22O  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

His  last  letter  to  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose  (or  more 
probably  only  the  last  which  has  been  preserved  ;  for  this 
lady  did  not  die  till  the  spring  of  1 855)  is  dated  "  Houghton 
Conquest,  Sep.  16,  1853,"  the  eve  of  the  anniversary  of 
Josephine  Mair's  death,  when  it  seems  to  have  been  his 
custom  to  write  Mrs.  Rose  a  letter  of  consolation,  under 
the  painful  associations  which  the  season  would  naturally 
awaken  in  her.  The  substance  of  it  will  be  found  at  the* 
end  of  this  section. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  letter  that  he  was  at  this  time 
busily  engaged  upon  his  '  Plain  Commentary  on  tJie  Holy 
Gospeh,  intended  chiefly  for  Devotional  Heading  I  to  a  certain 
Chapter  of  which  (St.  Matthew  xxv)  he  calls  Mrs.  Rose's 
attention.  The  Advertisement  at  the  beginning  of  this 
work  is  dated  November  24,  J  853  ;  but  it  was  not  pub- 
lished till  1854.  It  was  in  the  first  instance  put  forth 
anonymously,  Mr.  Parker,  the  publisher,  it  appears, 
having  recommended  the  suppression  of  his  name :  but 
in  the  second  edition,  put  forth  ten  years  afterwards  (in 
1864),  he  claims  the  authorship.  "It  is  thought,"  he 
says  in  the  Advertisement,  "  that  besides  its  use  in  the 
closet,  such  a  Commentary  as  the  present,  especially  if  it 
be  studied  for  a  few  minutes  beforehand,  might  be  made 

available  for  reading  aloud  in  the  family while  in 

order  to  facilitate  its  distribution  among  a  large  and 
most  important  class  of  readers,  but  whose  wants  seem 
to  have  been  hitherto  very  little  considered,  it  has  been 
so  contrived  that  any  single  chapter  may  be  procured  in 
the  shape  of  a  separate  Tract."  The  line  taken  in  this 
most  interesting  Commentary,  the  principle  which  rules 
all  its  expositions,  cannot  be  more  fully  and  more  tersely 
expressed  than  by  the  two  mottoes  on  its  title-page,  the 
one  from  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  (vi.  16), 
"  Ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      221 

therein  ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls  "  ;  the  other 
from  a  prayer  of  Bishop  Wilson's,  "  Grant,  0  LORD,  that 
in  reading  Thy  Word,  I  may  never  prefer  my  own  senti- 
ments before  those  of  the  Church  in  the  purely  ancient 
times  of  Christianity."  Hence  the  interpretation  of  any 
particular  passage  always  travels  in  the  old  traditional 
track,  nor  will  a  trace  be  found  of  novel  and  ingenious 
methods  of  solving  Scriptural  difficulties.  It  would  be 
useless,  for  example,  to  expect  to  find  in  it  any  vestige  of 
that  modern  exposition  of  St.  Matthew  xxv,  which  re- 
gards the  first  two  Parables  (those  of  the  Virgins  and  the 
Talents)  as  indicating  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  and 
the  last  (that  of  the  Sheep  and  Goats)  the  judgment  of 
the  Gentiles  or  unevangelized  "  nations,"  who,  never 
having  had  the  Gospel  proposed  to  their  faith,  are  tried 
not  by  its  requirements,  but  by  their  compliance  or  non- 
compliance  with  that  law  of  love,  which  was  written 
upon  man's  heart  in  the  beginning,  Burgon  finds  in  the 
last  parable,  as  he  says  to  Mrs.  Rose,  nothing  more  than 
"the  solemn  Commentary  of  the  SPIRIT  on  the  two 
parables  which  precede." — And  again,  one  might  be  sure 
beforehand  that  not  a  vestige  of  the  notion  that  "  he  that 
is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  "  in  St.  Matt.  xi.  u, 
means  "he  that  seems  least, — is  accounted  ly  the  men  of  Ids 
day  least''  and  that  Christ  is  really  speaking  of  Himself 
as  "greater  than  the  Baptist," — would  be  found  in  the 
'  Plain  Commentary!  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  can- 
not be  said  that  a  modern  view  as  to  the  meaning  of  a 
difficult  passage  finds  itself  denied  a  hearing,  if  only 
there  is  any  reason  in  it.  Thus,  while  the  writer  holds 
it  to  be  "even  monstrous"  to  think  that  St.  John  the 
Baptist's  motive  in  sending  two  disciples  to  enquire, 
"Art  thou  he  that  should  come,"  &c.,  was  "a  personal 
sense  of  doubt,"  and  that  "at  the  end  of  more  than  a 


222  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

year  s  imprisonment  he  had  become  perplexed  and  stag- 
gered," he  at  the  same  time  admits  it  to  be  probable 
enough  that,  though  the  conviction  of  the  Baptist's  dis- 
ciples was  the  principal  object  of  the  question  which  they 
were  instructed  to  ask,  he  may  also  have  desired  for 
himself  "  the  comfortable  corroboration  from  the  lips  of 
CHRIST,  of  his  own  deep-rooted  and  well-grounded  con- 
victions respecting  Messiah."  It  should  be  added  that 
while  the  expositions  of  the  'Plain  Commentary'  are 
chiefly  drawn,  either  from  the  old  Fathers,  or  from  the 
work  of  standard  Divines  of  the  English  Church,  num- 
berless little  gems  are  introduced  from  writers  of  the 
day.  Take  the  following  upon  St.  Matt.  x.  29,  30,  "  Are 
not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing  ?  and  not  one  of 
them  shall  fall  to  the  ground  without  your  Father," 
&c.,  &c.  "  It  has  been  truly  observed  by  a  living  writer, 
that  '  not  till  belief  in  these  declarations,  in  their  most 
literal  sense,  becomes  the  calm  and  settled  habit  of  the 
soul,  is  life  ever  redeemed  from  drudgery  and  dreary 
emptiness,  and  made  full  of  interest,  meaning,  and  Divine 
significance.' "  The  works  of  Mr.  Isaac  Williams  more 
especially  were  to  Burgon  a  mine  of  edification  in  which 
he  loved  to  quarry. 

From  the  Chapter  to  which  he  refers  Mrs.  Hugh  James 
Rose,  a  single  extract  may  be  here  presented  to  the  reader 
as  characteristic  of  Burgon's  general  style  of  exposition, 
and  indicative  of  his  profound  conviction  that  the 
minutest  particulars  in  Holy  Scripture  have  their  signi- 
ficance, that  in  the  lively  Oracles  nothing  is  thrown  out 
at  random — no  word,  for  which  another  might  with 
equal  propriety  be  substituted.  The  text  commented  on 
is,  "  And  five  of  them  were  wise,  and  five  were  foolish." 

"  Take  notice  that  three  out  of  four  suffer  loss  in  the  par- 
able of '  the  Sower ' :  while  here,  kalfarz  rejected :  in  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      223 

parable  of  '  the  Talents,'  it  is  one  in  three :  in  the  parable 
of '  the  Pounds,'  it  is  one  in  ten  :  while,  in  the  parable  of 
'  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son,'  it  is  one  out  of  an  infinite 
number.  The  intention  of  this  seems  to  have  been  to  re- 
press the  inquiry, '  LORD,  are  there  few  that  be  saved  ? ' ' 

This  observation  sounds  like  one  of  Mr.  Isaac  Williams's. 
But  even  supposing  it  to  have  been  his  originally,  it  is  a 
remark  which  Burgon  would  cordially  adopt, — altogether 
in  keeping  with  his  own  line  of  exposition. 

Before  we  quit  the  subject  of  this  valuable  Commentary, 
by  which,  whatever  shortcomings  may  be  found  in  it,  it 
will  hardly  be  denied  that  a  considerable  service  was 
done  to  English  exegetical  Theology2  (for  the  Commentary 
has  throughout  a  characteristic  idea  and  a  guiding  prin- 
ciple of  its  own,  and  makes  accessible  to  English  readers 
the  leading  expositions  given  by  the  early  Fathers), 
it  will  be  interesting  to  hear  the  criticisms  of  the  Rector 
of  Finmere  upon  the  separated  Chapters  of  it,  which 
were  submitted  to  him  at  an  earlier  date,  before  the 
whole  work  was  published  in  its  entirety.  Thus  he 
writes  about  it  in  a  letter  of  June  8,  1852,  from  which 
excerpts  on  another  subject  have  been  already  made: — 

2  The  'Plain  Commentary'  is  and  hi*  son,  Mr.  F.  P.  Nash,  came 
widely  circulated  in  America,  and  specially  from  America  to  repre- 
has  received  many  testimonies  from  sent  his  father  at  the  Funeral." 
American,  as  well  as  from  English,  This  incident  (a  somewhat  extra- 
readers.  One  of  not  the  least  ordinary  one,  if  the  time  demanded 
striking  is  the  following,  which  was  for  a  voyage  from  New  York  to 
mentioned  in  '  The  Record '  news-  Oxford  is  taken  into  account)  is 
paper  of  August  17,  1888,  when  given  on  the  authority  of  '  The 
describing  the  Funeral  of  the  late  Record,'  the  writer  having  had  no 
Dean  of  Chichester : —  opportunity  of  enquiring  into  the 

"  One  of  the  greatest   admirers  accuracy   of  the   report.      Possibly 

in  America  of  the  late  Dean  was  Mr.  Nash  may  have  left  New  York 

Professor  Nash,  of  Hobart  College,  on  the  arrival  by  telegram  of  the 

Geneva,  West  New  York,  particu-  report   of    Dean   Burgon's    serious 

larly  because  of  his  '  Plain  Ex-  illness,  and  previously  to  his  death, 
position  of  the  Four  Gospels ; ' 


224  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"The  observations  on  the  5th  of  St.  Matt,  and  the 
1 5th  of  St.  Luke  seem  to  me  very  judicious ;  but  you 
will  allow  me  to  say  your  undertaking  is  a  bold  one, 
and,  I  should  fear,  one  with  the  execution  of  which  you 
yourself  are  not  likely  to  be  satisfied  in  the  end.  Others 
have  done  the  same  thing ; — I  think  Sumner's  (the  pre- 
sent Abp.)  is  the  last.  There  are  doubtless  many  things 
in  all  parts  of  the  Gospels,  of  which  we  obtain  the  under- 
standing but  by  degrees.  They  are  as  it  were  the  prin- 
ciples of  our  spiritual  life ;  and  he  that  comments  on  a 
book  of  principles  should  feel  sure  that  he  understands 
them  thoroughly.  I  do  not  understand  the  Notes  to 
which  you  frequently  refer,  or  where  to  find  them.  Some 
seem  to  mean  the  observations  passed  by  yourself  on 
other  verses  of  the  Chapter  in  hand,  that  seem  to  have  a 
similar  meaning,  or  look  the  same  way.  The  title-page 
infers  that  much  authority  is  attached  to  primitive  notes 
and  commentaries  of  the  Fathers ;  and  I  do  not  doubt  that 
some — perhaps  most — of  your  observations  on  difficult 
and  doubtful  or  allusive  passages,  are  borrowed  from 
that  source.  You  frequently  refer  the  reader  to  parallel 
places  of  Scripture,  illustrative  of  those  before  you.  or 
authorising  the  interpretation  put  upon  them.  This  is 
quite  right.  But  if  you  have  anywhere  borrowed  from 
the  Fathers,  might  it  not  be  right  to  refer  to  that 
authority  also  in  a  footnote  ?  "  • 

A  very  just  and  judicious  criticism  by  an  older 
divine  upon  the  production  of  a  younger.  There  was  no 
doubt  a  venturesomeness  about  the  whole  undertaking, 
and  a  conception  of  its  originality,  which  needed  a 
wholesome  check  from  an  older  and  wiser  head ;  and 
in  the  Commentary  itself  there  certainly  is  a  deficiency 
of  specific  acknowledgment  of  Patristic  sources,  where 
it  is  clear  that  such  sources  have  been  resorted  to. 
Bishop  Christopher  Wordsworth,  in  his  '  Note*  on  the- 
Greek  Testament  I  always  makes  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  Patristic  author  whom  he  cites,  if  he  does  not  always 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      225 


refer  to  the  part  of  his  writings,  in  which  the  exposition 
is  to  be  found  3. 

The  beginning  of  the  year  1854  found  literary  occupa-  A-D- »85< 
tion  for  Burgon  of  a  class  entirely  different  from  the 
'  Plain  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Gospels,' — an  occupation 
which  removed  him  for  a  short  time  from  theological 
research  into  the  much  less  congenial  atmosphere  of 
Academical  controversy.  A  short  Paper  had  been  sent 
round  to  all  the  Oxford  Common  Rooms,  entitled 
'  Common-Room  Common-Places?  professing  to  be  a  corre- 
spondence between  a  resident  (Endemus)  and  a  non- 
resident Fellow  of  a  College  (Ecdemus) 4,  which  at  once 


3  In  a  letter  to  Burgon  from  Dr. 
Pusey,  signed  "Yours  affectionately, 
E.  B.  P.,"  but  bearing  no  date,  the 
writer  alludes  to  the  exposition 
given  by  Burgon  of  the  passage, 
"  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
Church"  (St.  Matt.  xvi.  i8X  Bur- 
gon (in  loc.~)  though  he  does  not 
altogether  exclude  other  meanings, 
thinks  the  Rock  to  be  St.  Peter 
himself.  Not  so  Dr.  Pusey.  He 
says ;  "  Mr.  —  -  wrote  to  attack 
me  for  your  Commentary  "  [probably 
portions  of  the  Commentary  had 
been  submitted  to  Dr.  Pusey  by 
Burgon].  "  I  said  that  I  had,  in 
a  long  note  to  Tertullian,  expressed 
my  own  belief  that  the  Rock  was 
the  Faith  (objective,  not  subjective) 
in  our  Lord  as  God  and  Man,  which 
St.  Peter  had  just  confessed ;  or, 
which  is  in  fact  the  same,  our  Lord 
as  God  and  Man,  as  then  believed 
in  and  confessed  by  St.  Peter. 
This  reconciles  the  different  in- 
terpretations of  the  Fathers,  and 
makes  them  one,  instead  of  con- 
flicting. Those  who  understand 
VOL.  I. 


the  Rock  of  Christ  are  rather  more 
than  those  who  understand  it  of 
St.  Peter.  The  same  Father  ex- 
presses himself  in  different  ways. — 
It  is  a  long  note,  to  which,  if  you 
thought  it  worth  while,  you  would 
find  a  reference  in  the  Contents." 

4  On  the  title-page  of  Burgon's 
own  copy  of  this  Paper  it  is  stated 
that  "  Endemus "  was  the  nom  de 
plume  of  Mr.  Grant,  a  Fellow  of 
Oriel,  and  "  Ecdemus "  of  Mr. 
Palgrave,  a  Fellow  of  Exeter.  It 
seems  to  have  been  thought  at  first 
that  "the  Two  Oxford  Fellows," 
who  claimed  the  authorship  of 
'  Common-Room  Common-Places? 
were  Fellows  of  the  same  College  ; 
and,  the  letter  of  "  Endemus"  being 
dated  from  "  Oriel,"  and  speaking 
to  "  Ecdemus  "  of  "  our  separate 
existence  as  a  corporate  body  "  and 
of  "  the  retrospect  of  our  Oriel 
years,"  it  was  naturally  supposed 
that  "  Ecdemus  "  must  be  a  Fellow 
of  Oriel  too  ;  and  on  these  grounds 
the  letter  of  "Ecdemus"  was 
wrongly  attribute!  to  Mr.  Poete. 


226  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

drew  from  its  sheath  his  controversial  pen, — a  weapon 
he  was  at  all  times  apt  to  use  somewhat  too  freely. 
University  Keform  of  a  very  trenchant  and  thorough- 
going character  was  impending.  The  "Royal  Com- 
mission of  Inquiry  into  the  State,  Discipline,  Studies, 
and  Revenues  of  the  University  and  Colleges  of  Oxford" 
had  reported  as  far  back  as  the  27th  of  April,  1852  ;  and 
the  "  Oxford  University  Bill,"  remodelling  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  University,  and  entrusting  seven  Com- 
missioners with  power  to  make  Ordinances  and  Regula- 
tions for  the  Colleges,  was  to  be  introduced  into  the 
House  of  Commons  on  March  17  of  this  year  (1854),  and 
to  become  Law,  by  receiving  the  Queen's  Assent,  on  the 
7th  of  August.  "  Endemus  "  and  "  Ecdemus,"  evidently 
playing  into  one  another's  hands,  had  urged  that  the 
principal  and  primary  duty  of  both  Colleges  and  Uni- 
versity was  Education,  and  that,  in  any  arrangement 
which  might  be  in  prospect,  everything  should  be  en- 
tirely subordinated  to  this  end.  the  intention  of  Founders 
being  set  aside  as  inapplicable  to  modern  social  wants, 
and  Fellowships  being  made  to  furnish  stipends  for 
Tutors  or  Professors,  or  rewards  of  Academical  merit, 
which  might  give  their  holders  an  advantageous  start  in 
such  professions  as  they  might  choose.  Burgon  in  his 
'  Oxford  Reformers  :  a  Letter  to  End  emu*  and  Ecdemus,'  after 
lecturing  them  on  the  undutiful  and  ungenerous  tone 
and  spirit  of  their  letters,  insists  that  the  great  motive 
of  the  intention  of  the  Founders  of  Colleges  was  the 

Burgon  however  discovered  the  true  thus  : — 

authorship    of    this    letter    (more  "It  requires  to  be  made  known 

objectionable,  in  his  view,  than  that  that   Horace   was   under  a   wrong 

of  Endemus),  and  would  not  have  impression,  when  he  suggested  that 

two  such   letters    credited    to   the  '  POST  efiert  aniini  motus  interprete 

account  of  his  own  College,  Oriel.  lingua.' " 

And   he  announces    his    discovery 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      227 

desire  to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  Clergy,  and  to 
promote  the  study  of  Theology,  and  appends  to  his  pam- 
phlet a  most  valuable  letter  to  the  same  effect  from 
Professor  Earle,  which,  as  it  goes  into  the  question  his- 
torically, and  is  written  with  perfect  calmness,  might 
well  have  been  considered  to  be  by  itself  a  sufficient 
answer  to  the  many  crude  schemes  of  Academical  Reform 
which  the  occasion  was  giving  rise  to.  Burgon's  pam- 
phlet was  sent  by  him  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  then  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  and  Member  for  the  University,  from 
whom  it  received  a  prompt  and  courteous  acknow- 
ledgment, whereupon  Burgon  took  occasion  to  address  to 
Mr.  Gladstone  a  letter  expressive  of  the  apprehensions, 
entertained  by  him  in  common  with  many  of  the  leading 
Academics  of  that  day,  as  to  the  results  of  the  course 
which  the  proposed  Reforms  were  likely  to  take,  and 
imploring  Mr.  Gladstone  not  to  yield  to  the  revolutionary 
impulse  which  was  abroad  among  persons  avowedly  hos- 
tile to  Oxford  as  it  then  was,  as  also  among  professing 
but  treacherous  friends.  This  letter  will  be  found  at  the 
end  of  the  Section.  Mr.  Gladstone  sent  a  long  and  care- 
ful reply  to  it,  which  (like  his  former  letter  acknow- 
ledging "  Endemus ")  the  author  regrets  that  he  is  not 
permitted  to  publish.  He  has  however  permission  to 
quote  the  concluding  sentence  of  a  letter  to  himself,  in 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  says  that,  "  while  I  do  not  recede 
from  the  sentiments  which  my  letters  to  Mr.  Burgon 
contain,  I  am  in  certain  respects  concerned,  even  grieved, 
at  the  turn  which  Oxford  Reform  has  taken."  Well 
may  he  be  so  ;  considering  that  whatever  improvements 
may  have  come  in  the  train  of  Academical  Reform,  the 
general  effect  of  it  at  both  Universities  has  undoubtedly 
been  to  effect  a  divorce  between  the  Church  and  the 
higher  Education  of  the  country.  In  writing  to  Mr. 

Q  2 


228  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Gladstone  on  the  subject,  Burgon  of  course  felt  his  pen 
to  be  under  a  certain  restraint ;  but,  in  pouring  himself 
out  to  his  old  College  friend,  Mr.  Hensley,  he  could  un- 
bosom himself  without  reserve  as  to  his  dislike  of  the 
changes  which  had  already  been  effected,  and  his  still 
more  serious  apprehension  of  those  which  would  ulti- 
mately result  from  the  working  of  the  Oxford  University 
Act,  and  while  many  will  think  that  he  paints  these 
results  in  colours  unduly  gloomy,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  all  that  he  there  predicts  has  come  to  pass.  The 
letter  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  Section. 

We  now  come  to  the  saddest  period  of  Burgon's  life, 
— the  period  which  threw  a  shadow  over  his  susceptible 
soul  never  entirely  to  be  dissipated,  though  he,  no  doubt, 
like  other  men,  was  accessible  to  the  healing  and  restor- 
ative influences  of  lapse  of  Time.  In  the  letter  to  Mr. 
Hensley  just  referred  to,  the  date  of  which  is  July  19, 
1854,  he  had  told  his  old  friend;  "I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  my  dearest  mother  both  has  been,  and  continues  to 
be,  very  poorly  indeed.  I  feel  very  heavy  on  the  sub- 
ject." Not  two  months  after  these  words  were  written 
(September  7, 1854)  he  lost  his  mother.  Four  days  after 
her  death  (Sept.  n),  sitting  in  the  room  in  which  she 
had  died,  "  and  near  her  leaden  coffin,"  he  wrote  "  a 
brief  record  of  her  latter  days  and  illness,  together  with 
some  account  of  the  manner  of  her  departing ;  for  in 
after  years  such  records  are  unspeakably  precious,  and 
no  memoranda  of  this  nature  are  worth  much,  if  they 
are  not  made  immediately."  The  record  fills  about 
eighty  closely  written  pages  of  a  small  memorandum- 
book,  which  of  course  (if  it  were  only  out  of  respect 
to  the  sacredness  of  such  sorrow)  can  only  be  rapidly 
summarised  here.  He  tells  of  the  proximate  occasion  of 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      229 

the  fatal  malady, — a  cold  caught  in  the  autumn  of  the 
preceding  year, — of  its  origin  in  heart-complaint  "at 
a  far  remoter  period," — of  its  distressing  symptoms, 
swollen  feet,  "fighting  for  breath,"  inability  to  sleep 
otherwise  than  in  a  sitting  posture ; — of  his  mother's 
inability  to  "  inlay "  his  commentary  on  St.  Luke,  a 
work  which  she  had  already  done  for  the  earlier  part  of 
the  work,  and  of  the  gradual  failure  of  her  powers,  as 
manifested  in  her  altered  mode  of  welcoming  him  back 

O 

home. 

"In  old  times  the  driving  up  of  my  cab  to  the  door 
was  the  signal  for  her  I  loved  hastily  to  descend  the 
stairs.  She  used  to  meet  me  almost  at  the  door  in  the 
hall,  exclaiming  '  Welcome  !  Welcome  ! '  and,  with  her 
dear  kind  arms  extended,  embracing  me  and  kissing  me 
heartily  on  the  cheek  three  or  four  times.  Presently,  it 
used  to  be  on  the  stairs  that  I  saw  her  outstretched 
arms,  and  received  her  warm  embrace.  By  degrees,  it 
seemed  to  me  as  if  she  descended  a  fewer  and  fewer 
number  of  stairs.  Latterly  it  was  at  the  drawing-room 
door  that  I  felt  her  hearty  and  repeated  kiss,  and 
[heard]  her  emphatic  '  Welcome,  welcome,  my  boy  !  my 
poor  boy,'  and  so  on.  What  a  warm  embrace  it  used  to 
be!  She  used  to  open  her  dear  arms  quite  wide,  and 
enfold  me.  But  she  could  not  quite  do  this  at  last,  or, 
at  least,  not  in  quite  the  same  way.  I  believe  the  last 
time  but  one  I  came  home,  she  only  rose  from  her  chair. 
The  last  time  of  all,  I  embraced  her,  on  arriving  home, 
as  she  sat  in  her  chair !  .  .  .  This  was  on  Tuesday  the 
5th  Sept.  O  what  a  painful  bewildering  kind  of  day 
that  was !  .  .  .  She  rejoiced  to  see  me,  but  regretted  to 
have  disturbed  me,  and  taken  me  from  my  studies.  She 
alluded  to  my  Commentary, — a  work  which  was  ever 
very  dear  and  interesting  to  her.  '  While  you  are 
trying  to  do  good  to  the  souls  of  so  many,'  she  said,  '  to 
take  you  away  ! ' ; 

He  records  her  end  with  great  minuteness  as  to  each 


230  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

slight  particular.  He  tells  how  for  the  last  time  he 
(who  had  lain  so  often  in  her  arms)  took  her  in  his,  and 
lifted  her  on  to  her  bed  ;  how,  as  soon  as  it  was  clear 
that  she  had  passed  away,  he,  his  brother  and  three 
sisters, 

"  laid  her  out  on  the  bed  where  she  had  died.  A  heavy 
task  it  was  for  us  all.  Still  we  were  wonderfully 
supported;  and  we  preferred  doing  this,  a  thousand 
times,  than  that  profane  hands  should  intermeddle  with 
our  grief.  .  .  .  The  wedding  ring  which  I  drew  off  the 
fourth  finger  of  her  left  hand,  the  kind  ones  present 
urged  on  me  to  wear  myself.  '  And  this  1 '  I  said,  draw- 
ing it  off.  '  O  wear  it,  wear  it,'  they  all  exclaimed. 
Accordingly,  I  placed  it  on  my  little  finger ;  and  there, 
if  it  please  GOD,  I  will  wear  it  till  I  die5.  .  .  .  We  knelt 
all  together  and  prayed  by  the  bedside.  ...  I  slept  on 
the  sofa  in  my  beloved  mother's  room  that  night, — 
Thursday.  It  was  awful,  but  pleasant.  I  prayed  near 
her,  very  happily." 

On  Saturday,  Sept.  9,  he  and  his  youngest  sister  went 
to  Oxford  (returning  the  same  day),  and  arranged  that 
the  interment  should  take  place  in  a  strip  of  ground  in 
the  Holy  well  cemetery,  belonging  to  St.  John  the  Baptist's 
Paiish,  in  which  Parish  his  rooms  at  Oriel  stood.  "I 
chose  the  place, — a  dry  gravelly  rock  near  a  boundary 
wall.  Will  not  that  spot  become  the  most  familiar  to 
me,  as  well  as  the  most  dear,  of  any  in  Oxford  ? "  On 
Wednesday  night,  Sept.  13,  he  brought  the  body  of  his 
mother  to  Oxford,  where  it  was  met  at  the  station  by 
the  College  servants,  and  deposited  in  his  rooms  at 

4  The  circumstance  of  hie  always  life,  as  has  been  shown  already,  to 

wearing    this    wedding-ring     may  the  charms   of   agreeable    women, 

perhaps   have  given  colour  to  the  that  people  who  had  no  knowledge 

wholly  groundless  on  (lit  that  he  of  his  antecedents  thought  he  must 

was  once  married,  and  liad  lost  his  have  been  married ;  and  what  they 

wife  in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  wished  to  believe  they  did  believe. 
He  was  so  susceptible  throughout 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      231 

Oriel.  He  "passed  the  night  in  a  chair  by  the  side  of 
it,"  occasionally  getting  snatches  of  sleep,  but  often 
waking.  At  7  A.M.  next  morning  he  and  his  brother- 
in-law  (Rev.  Henry  John  Rose),  who  had  now  joined 
him,  after  communicating  and  attending  Matins  at 
St.  Mary  the  Virgin's  Church,  visited  the  cemetery  and 
"saw  the  men  digging  the  grave."  Then,  in  the  room 
where  the  body  lay,  "  they  read,  wrote,  thought,  and 
kept  silence  till  i  P.M.,"  when  his  father,  brother,  and 
Mr.  Higgins  arrived  from  London.  At  2.30  P.M.  the 
funeral  left  Oriel  for  the  Chapel  of  the  Cemetery,  pre- 
ceded by  the  Marshal  and  Bellman  of  the  University. 
The  mourners  were  six,  his  father,  brother,  two  brothers- 
in-law,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Marriott,  an  intimate 
friend  and  Fellow  of  the  same  College  with  himself. 

£i  Hobhouse,  assisted  by  Sargent  and  Walton,  with  a 
quire  of  boys  (twelve  or  fourteen),  met  the  corpse, 
singing  the  sentences  to  the  music  suggested  in  Cran- 
mer's  P.  B.  I  prefer  for  your  feeling  the  solemn  sound  of 
a  single  voice  reading  those  grand  words ;  but  the 
effect  of  the  music  was  soothing  and  impressive— most 
kindly  meant — and,  as  a  mark  of  respect  and  honour 
to  the  dear  departed  one,  most  acceptable  to  me.  For 
the  same  reason,  I  was  not  sorry  to  see  some  strangers 
present  in  the  Chapel,  and  I  liked  to  see  the  Marshal 
and  the  other  at  head  and  foot  of  the  coffin,  all  the 
time  it  stood  in  the  Chapel,  while  the  Psalms  were 
being  chanted,  and  Hobhouse  read." 

The  interment  concluded,  his  father  and  brother  and 
Mr.  Higgins  having  left  Oxford  by  an  evening  train,  he 
and  Mr.  Rose  revisited  the  grave,  and  repeated  their 
visit  several  times  in  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day. 
Having  "  bought  tiles  to  edge  the  ground,"  and  given 
instructions  for  laying  them  ("My  wish  is  to  have  a 
border,  nine  inches  wide,  of  rich  garden  mould,  enclosing 


2i2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGOX. 

O  *" 

a  square  of  fine  turf ;— the  whole  to  be  enclosed  by  a 
rough  species  of  tile  "),  he  himself  returned  to  London 
in  the  early  afternoon  of  Friday,  15  Sep. 

The  loss  of  Parents  is,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  Nature, 
the  common  lot  of  mankind,  and  while  such  bereave- 
ments cannot  fail  to  be  bitter  to  dutiful  and  affectionate 
children,  they  are  soon  acquiesced  in  as  the  inevitable 
experience  of  all  who  reach  mature  age.  But  it  is 
thought  that  a  very  small  minority  of  men,  actively 
engaged  in  the  business  and  cares  of  life,  would,  fourteen 
years  after  the  removal  of  a  mother,  feel  and  write  as 
follows : — 

"H.  C."  [Houghton  Conquest],  "Monday,  7  Sep.  1868, 
between  6  and  7  P.M.  This  is  the  day  and  the  hour 
which  always  seems  to  bring  me  nearest  to  my  beloved, 
— a  day  of  sweet  and  solemn  recollection,  as  well  as  of 
awful  meditation.  For  I  ask  myself,  where  is  she 
abiding1?  And  I  tell  myself  that  it  must  be  in  the 
place  of  perfect  peace.  And  so  I  seem  to  stand  in 
adoration  near  the  half-opened  gates  of  Paradise,  and 
something  tells  me  that  the  Beatific  Vision  is  the  bliss  of 
those  who  dwell  within. — Does  she  think  of  me  ?  Yes. 
And  she  has  prayed  for  me,  and  for  us  all,  often  ;  and  her 
prayers  have  been  heard.  O  the  many  blessings  which 
have  befallen  me !  On  her  last  birthday,  I  was  fairly 
startled  by  the  token  that  reached  me  that  so  it  was. 

"  The  years  circle  round,  and  I  miss  her  sadly.  I  note 
in  myself  the  tokens  of  advancing  age.  It  is  hard  to 
believe  that  I  am  fifty-five,  and  that  she  would  have 
been  seventy-eight  were  she  here.  For  I  seem  to  fancy 
myself  always  a  boy ; — and  her — O  I  can  never  think  of 
her  as  an  old  woman ! 

"  J.  W.  B." 

Nor  let  the  above  be  thought  of  as  a  mere  transient 
gush  of  emotion,  called  forth  by  associations  which  a 
particular  season  had  awakened  up.  Thus  writes  Bishop 
Hobhouse  to  the  author,  one  of  Burgon's  intimate  Oxford 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      233 

friends,  who,  as  we  have  just  seen,  had  read  the  words 
of  Christian  hope  over  Mrs.  Burgon's  grave. 

"  From  the  moment  that  my  dear  friend  laid  his 
mother's  remains  in  the  retired  corner  assigned  to  the 
Parish  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  he  cherished  that  spot  as 
the  most  sacred  in  the  world  to  his  feelings.  He  risifed 
if  <1  <i>?t/,  standing  over  it  bareheaded.  He  decorated  the 
whole  adjoining  wall  with  sculpture  and  with  creeping 
plants.  He  was  anxious  to  extend  this  care  in  a  measure 
to  the  whole  enclosure.  He  readily  lent  his  artist-mind 
and  his  skilled  pencil  to  any  who  were  seeking  to  decor- 
ate the  graves  of  their  kinsfolk  ;  and  such  ready  aid  was 
readily  sought.  We  both  cherished,  the  spot  greatly, 
believing  that  care  for  the  resting-place  of  the  Departed 
is  a  direct  outcome  of  faith  in  the  communion  of  Saints, 
and  helps  to  deepen  that  faith.  We  were  in  frequent 
communication  about  the  care  of  the  ground.  Our 
deeper  feelings  about  it  we  expressed  by  meeting  in  the 
Cemetery  Chapel  on  Easter  Even  and  All  Saints'  Day, 
and  reciting  a  short  service  selected  from  the  Prayer 
Book." 

Troubles  are  said  never  to  come  alone  (a  maxim  of 
human  experience  the  truth  of  which  may  possibly  be 
insinuated  in  those  words  of  Eliphaz  to  the  Patriarch 
Job,  "  He  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles :  yea,  in 
seven  there  shall  no  evil  touch  thee  "  ) ;  and  within  seven 
months  of  the  death  of  his  mother  two  more  bereave- 
ments wrung  Burgon's  heart, — one,  the  death  of  Dr. 
Routh,  the  President  of  Magdalen,  at  the  ripe  age  of 
ninety-nine,  whose  memory  he  has  embalmed  both  in 
poetry  and  prose, — the  other  that  of  Mi's.  Hugh  James 
Rose,  whom  he  regarded,  as  his  letters  to  her  show,  with 
mingled  affection  and  veneration,  and  to  whom  he  pro- 
bably unbosomed  himself  with  greater  freedom  than  to 
any  other  correspondent  out  of  the  precinct  of  his  own 
family.  Dr.  Routh  passed  away  on  the  22nd  of  Decem- 


234  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

her,  1854;  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose  on  the  5th  of  April, 
1855.  He  alludes  very  touchingly  to  the  proximity  of 
these  deaths  with  that  of  his  mother  in  the  opening  of 
his  "  Century  of  Verses  in  Memory  of  the  President  of 
Magdalen  College"  ['  Poems,'  p.  119]  :— 

"  Grief  upon  grief !   it  seems  as  if  each  day 
Came  laden  with  a  freight  of  heavy  news 
From  East  or  West.     My  letters,  fringed  with  black, 
Bring  me  but  sighs:  and  when  the  heart  is  full 
One  drop  will  make  the  bitter  cup  o'ernow." 

During  the  time  of  his  sorrows,  and  while  the  more 
arduous  and  solid  work  of  his  Plain  Commentary  was 
progressing,  he  was  preparing  and  passing  through  the 
press  his  '  Ninety  Short  Sermons  for  Family  Reading,  follow- 
ing the  course  of  the  Christian  Seasons?  The  impress  of 
this  sorrowful  time  is  stamped  upon  them  by  their  in- 
scription, "  To  the  blessed  memory  of  my  mother, 
Houghton  Conquest,  Sept.  7,  1855."  In  the  Preface, 
1855.  which  is  dated  Oxford,  October  15,  1855,  he  tells  us 
42'J  the  demand  which  he  designs  by  these  Sermons  to 
meet :  "  Many  who  observe  the  practice  of  occasionally 
reading  a  Sermon  aloud  to  their  household,  are  heard  to 
declare  that  they  can  scarcely  find  anything  quite  suit- 
able for  that  purpose.  The  length  of  most  Sermons  is 
a  fatal  objection.  Some  are  thought  too  abstruse  ;  and 
some,  too  polemical."  Of  these  Sermons  it  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  his  style  and  favourite  phrases  characterize 
them  throughout ;  that,  though  he  tells  us  that  he  is 
"  not  conscious  of  having  gone  out  of  his  way,  in  order 
to  be  original,"  they  contain  (as  could  hardly  fail  to  be 
the  case  with  a  mind  so  fresh  and  unconventional  as  his) 
many  striking  and  edifying  original  thoughts,  and  that 
Dr.  Hawkins,  the  Provost  of  Oriel,  read  and  found  edifi- 
cation in  them  in  his  latter  days  during  his  retirement 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      235 

at  Rochester.  Thus  Burgon  writes  in  his  '  Lives  of  Twelve 
Good  Men'  ["Edward  Hawkins:  The  Great  Provost," 
vol.  i.  p.  458]  :— 

"  His  widow  informed  me, — '  Your  own  Short  Sermons, 
of  which  I  read  many  to  him  on  Sunday  evenings  in  the 
garden,  pleased  him  much.  "  The  teaching  of  the  Harvest " 
he  greatly  liked.  I  could  name  many  others,  if  I  searched 
the  volumes.  They  were  not  new  to  him,  of  course  :  but 
you  would  have  liked  to  see  the  expression  of  his  face, 
as  he  thus  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  them,  in  our 
pleasant  shady  garden.' — This  is  touching  enough, — 
especially  as  the  author  of  the  Sermons  in  question  has 
experienced  from  those  honoured  lips  many  and  many 
a  salutary  snub.'' 

A  single  passage  from  these  Sermons  must  suffice,  as  a 
specimen  of  the  striking  observations  which  they  contain 
throughout.  The  text  is,  "  He  saw  also  a  certain  poor 
widow"  (St.  Luke  xxi.  2),  and  the  title,  "NOTHING 

LITTLE   IN  GOD'S  SIGHT/' 

"  Now,  the  one  circumstance  in  all  this  wondrous  and 
varied  narrative  to  which  we  wish  to  call  attention,  is, 
that  amid  all  these  mighty  discourses  and  amazing  pro- 
phecies, amid  all  the  weariness  of  His  Human  Body,  and 
the  anguish  of  His  Human  Soul ;  amid  griefs  unrevealed 
and  bitterness  of  spirit  unutterable  ;  the  LORD  of  Heaven 
and  Earth  was  at  leisure  to  sit  down  and  watch  the  ways 
of  one  of  the  very  humblest  of  His  creatures.  '  He  saw  also 
— a  certain  poor  widow.'  .  .  .  After  His  eight  withering 
woes  denounced  upon  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  which 
must  have  goaded  them  to  madness,  (for  they  were  at  once 
the  proudest  and  the  most  powerful  of  the  people)  after 
tli lit.  and  just  before  He  entered  upon  that  far-sighted 
prophecy  which  glanced  onward,  from  the  coming  de- 
struction of  the  City  to  the  very  end  of  the  World, — 
blending  the  near,  and  the  far  future,  so  wondrously  ;  and 
showing  that  the  Blessed  Speaker's  eye  was  filled  with 
images  of  magnificence  and  grandeur  unspeakable, — the 


236  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

destinies  of  thfe  whole  Human  Kace,  and  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  things  : — (the  moment  is  well  worth  observing ; 
for  it  was  the  brief  moment  which  separated  the  SAVIOUK'S 
discourse  concerning  the  things  of  Time  and  of  Eternity, 
— the  little  halting-place  between  His  leave-taking  of 
His  enemies,  and  His  anticipation  of  the  ruin  which  was 
to  be  brought  upon  them  ;  first,  by  His  avenging  armies  ; 
next,  by  His  legions  of  angels) — it  was  at  that  particu- 
lar instant,  we  repeat,  and  therefore  while  His  heart 
must  have  been  occupied  in  the  way  we  have  been 
describing, — that  our  LORD,  seating  Himself  over  against 
the  Treasury,  (that  is,  the  alms-chests  which  were  destined 
to  receive  the  offerings  of  the  people)  looked  up,  and 
beheld  how  they  cast  money  into  the  Treasury.  And 
many  that  were  rich  cast  in  much.  And  there  came  a 
poor  woman  ;  and  (as  St.  Luke  remarks)  '  He  saw  her ! ' 
.  .  .  He  saw  before  Him  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
and  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  wreck  of  Nature,  and 
the  crash  of  Worlds,  and  the  setting  up  of  the  great 
white  Throne,  and  the  gathering  together  of  all  the 
Tribes  of  the  Earth :  all  this  He  saw.  But  '  He  saw  also 
— a  certain  poor  widow'  And  she  threw  in  two  mites, 
which  make  a  farthing.  .  .  .  He  had  the  leisure,  had  the 
inclination,  had  the  sovereign  will,  to  scrutinize  the  act, 
and  to  weigh  it  in  a  heavenly  balance,  and  to  pronounce 
upon  it, — calmly,  and  at  length, — as  if  Life  and  Death 
hung  upon  the  issue.  He  called  unto  Him  His  Disciples, 
and  saith  unto  them, — '  Verily,  I  say  unto  you  that  this 
poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all.  For  all  f/tet/ 
did  cast  in  of  their  abundance  :  but  she,  of  her  want,  did 
cast  in  all  she  had,  even  all  her  living.'  These  gracious 
words  on  the  lips  of  our  SAVIOUR  awaken  in  us  a  deep 
sense  of  wonder  and  admiration.  .  .  .  We  desire  to  fill  our 
minds  with  the  single  thought  of  God's  watchful  and 
observing  eye,  which  nothing  is  so  little  as  to  escape  ; 
nothing  is  so  trifling  as  not  to  interest  and  engage.  The 
Psalmist  has  expressed  this  in  a  single  verse  of  the  i  I3th 
Psalm, — '  Who  is  like  unto  the  LORD  our  God,  that  hath 
His  dwelling  so  high  ;  and  yet  humbleth  Himself  to 
behold  the  things  that  are  in  Heaven  and  Earth ! ' ' 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      237 

The  Sermons  are  all  adapted  to  the  Ecclesiastical 
Seasons,  at  which  they  are  designed  to  be  read  ;  and.  as 
with  the  poems  of '  The  Christian  Year,'  those  which  turn 
upon  the  Lessons  have  lost  their  point  in  connexion  with 
the  Ecclesiastical  Seasons,  by  the  substitution  of  the  New 
for  the  Old  Lectionary. 

A  letter  to  Mr.  Hensley,  of  Dec.  21,  1855,  which  will 
be  found  at  the  end  of  this  Section,  contains  an  interest- 
ing notice  of  his  literary  work  at  that  date,  past  and 
prospective.  His  "Commentary"  and  his  "Sermons" 
are  "finished,"  and  he  is  then  engaged  on  '  Brief  Memoirs 
of  the  Colleges  of  Oxford'  of  which  "  eight  I  have  written, 
and /<??*;•  have  been  published  ;  the  rest  will  appear  before 
June."  His  anticipations  as  to  the  date  at  which  he 
should  get  this  work  off  his  hands,  appear  to  be  prema- 
ture ;  for  in  a  later  letter  to  Mr.  Hensley  (of  March  1 7, 
1 857,)  he  announces  that  he  is  "finishing  off  his  Memoirs  of 
the  Colleges,  Wadham,  Pembroke,  and  Worcester  remain- 
ing still  to  be  done."  The  notice  of  this  work  therefore 
had  better  be  postponed  for  the  present.  Meanwhile, 
'  The  History  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  Exhibited  in  a  Series 
of  Seventy-two  Coloured  Engravings,'  edited  by  his  brother- 
in-law  (Rev.  Henry  John  Rose)  and  himself,  of  which  he 
says  in  his  letter  of  Dec.  2 1 ,  to  Mr.  Hensley ;  "  My  prints 
are  published  this  day  by  Hering ;  and  I  hope  he  will 
make  them  answer,"  demands  a  few  lines  of  notice. 
The  Prefatory  Address  (dated  Houghton  Conquest,  Oct. 
j  2th.  1855)  contains  an  illustration  of  the  missionary  value 
of  Sacred  Prints  from  the  letter  of  a  lady  connected  with 
the  Natal  Mission.  Mr.  Rose  had  given  some  of  his 
pictures  to  Bishop  Colenso  for  use  among  the  natives. 

"  Your  heart  would  have  ached," — the  lady  writes, — "at 
the  scene  I  have  just  witnessed.  Three  old  wrinkled  Kafir 
women  from  the  country,  who  had  never  heard  of  their 


231 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


GOD  and  SAVIOUR,  came  to  see  the  pictures,  which  some 
others  had  told  them  of.  I  was  so  engaged  in  writing  to 
you,  that  I  gave  them  to  '  Boy,' "  [a  Kafir  youth  so 
named],  "  and  told  him  to  show  them.  They  had  been 
with  him  a  long  time,  when  they  begged  to  come  and 
thank  me.  They  were  weeping,  and  came  and  took  my 
hand  and  said,  '  They  had  never  known  about  it.'  It  was 
heartrending  to  see  their  careworn  faces,  which  spoke  of 
life's  trials  and  troubles  borne  all  alone. 

"  One  evening  four  Kafir  women  came,  and  it  was 
touching  to  see  how  they  appreciated  the  picture  of  the 
'  little  children  coming  to  JESUS.'  With  their  infants  in 
their  arms,  they  told  each  other  that  they  might  come  to 
Him." 

The  Prefatory  Address  deprecates  the  idea  that  the 
circulation  of  these  Sacred  Prints  in  the  cottages  of  the 
poor  would  be  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge  for  the  intro- 
duction of  Popery. 

"  If  we  thought  that  result  possible,  we  would  cut  off 
our  right  hands  rather  than  be  the  promoters  of  such 
a  taste.  But  it  is  not  possible.  Still  less  cause  is  there 
to  dread  that  encouragement  is  thereby  given  to  irrever- 
ence; that  any  undue  familiarity  with  holy  things  is 
thereby  fostered  in  the  humbler  class.  IN  o ;  let  the 
representations  be  but  Scriptural  and  healthy,  and  they 
will  not  be  found  to  have  any  Romanising  tendency : 
let  them  be  but  dignified  and  devout,  and  they  will 
not  promote  irreverence." 

The  whole  of  the  Address  savours  strongly  of  the 
characteristic  style  of  the  junior  partner  in  the  work. 
It  is  inscribed  to  the  well-known  American  Poet  and 
Divine,  the  Reverend  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe,  M.A., 
afterwards  Bishop  of  New  York,  but  then  Rector  of 
Grace  Church,  Baltimore,  a  friend  of  both  the  Editors, 
and  one  of  Burgon's  many  Transatlantic  correspondents 
and  admirers. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      239 

A  letter  to  Mr.  Hensley  of  Nov.  8,  1856,  gives  an  A.D.  1851 
account  of  his  health,  and  of  the  multiplication  of  his 
literary  plans,  notwithstanding  the  slow  progress  which 
he  makes  with  the  work  then  in  hand,  and  concludes 
with  one  of  those  beautiful  and  edifying  thoughts  which 
are  thrown  out  occasionally  in  the  course  of  his  corre- 
spondence. Excerpts  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the 
Section. 

The  next  letter,  dated  Oriel,  March  17,  1857,  in  which 
he  proposes  another  visit  to  Mr.  Hensley,  and  offers  him 
Christian  consolation  under  a  bereavement  which  had 
desolated  his  home,  shews  also  his  penetration  in  matters 
of  Art,  and  the  confidence  which  his  friends  reposed  in 
his  judgment  on  such  matters.  He  takes  stock,  as 
before,  of  his  literary  work,  and  mentions  the  Lenten 
Sermons  by  eminent  Preachers  at  St.  Mary-the-Virgin's 
and  other  Churches  in  Oxford,  which  were  inaugurated  on 
the  Ash  Wednesday  of  this  year  by  Bishop  Wilberforce. 
He  also  tells  his  friend  that  he  has  recently  commenced 
"reading  Genesis  with  a  class  of  the  citizens  at  the  Town 
Hall." 

'  The  Historical  Notices  of  the  Oxford  Colleges'  which 
he  says  in  this  last  letter  that  he  is  "  finishing  off," 
must  have  been  a  piece  of  work  which  his  antiquarian 
proclivities,  and  his  strong  love  of  Oxford,  must  have 
contributed  equally  to  make  congenial  to  him.  The 
title  of  this  work  is  "  The  Arms  of  the  Colleges.  By 
Henry  Shaw,  F.S.A.,  Author  of  Dresses  and  Decorations 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  &c.,  &c..with  Historical  Notices  of  the 
Colleges  by  the  Rev.  John  W.  Burgon,M.A.,  Fellow  of  Oriel 
College."  The  magnificent  blazonry  of  the  Arms  of  the 
University  and  the  Colleges  is  due  entirely  to  Mr.  Shaw, 
Burgon  being  responsible  only  for  the  letter-press  which 
accompanies  each  plate  of  Arms.  He  requested  Mr. 


240  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Shaw  to  state  in  the  Advertisement  prefixed  to  the 
Second  Number  that,  although  the  writer  of  the  '  His- 
torical Notices '  "  has  not  followed  servilely  in  the  track 
of  previous  writers,  it  must  not  create  surprise  if  he  has 
repeatedly  availed  himself  of  their  labours,  and  some- 
times even  quoted  their  words.  He  has  endeavoured 
however,  in  every  instance,  to  add  something  to  what  has 
hitherto  appeared  in  print :  to  obtain  corroboration, 
where  it  was  feasible,  of  the  statements  he  has  repro- 
duced ;  and  to  impart  an  air  of  novelty  to  an  old  and 
often-attempted  subject,  by  invoking  aid  from  less 
obvious  sources  of  information  than  are  generally  ap- 
pealed to."  His  'Historical  Notices'  he  inscribes  to 
Dr.  Cotton,  Provost  of  Worcester  College  (where  his 
undergraduate  life  had  been  passed),  and  at  that  time 
(1855)  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University.  He  directs 
the  binder  of  the  completed  work  to  place  the  Colleges 
in  the  order  of  the  date  of  their  Foundation,  Merton 
standing  first  and  Worcester  last,  Oriel  (the  College 
which  had  adopted  him),  fifth.  In  his  "  Notice  "  of  the 
earnest  of  these  he  studiously  points  out  how  "  the  idea 
of  a  College,  as  elaborated  in  Walter  de  Merton's  mind, 
was  that  of  an  endowed  corporation  of  Scholars,  free  from 

rotes connected  with    the  University,  in  the 

matter  of  study ;  and  with  the  Church,  in  doctrine  and 
discipline.  His  idea  was  therefore  distinct  from  the 
Monastic  idea,  by  the  absence  of  vows,  and  by  the 
distinct  employment  provided  for  the  inmates."  In 
the  Notice  of  Oriel  College  he  shews  how  Edward  II 
and  Adam  de  Brom,  his  Almoner,  adopted  in  their 
foundation  the  idea  of  Walter  de  Merton,  declaring  that 
they  had  in  view 

" '  the  honour  of  the  Church  ;  whose  ministrations 
should  be  committed  to  faithful  men,  who  may  shine 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      241 

like  stars  in  their  watches,  and  instruct  the  people 
not  only  with  their  lips,  but  in  their  lives.'  Quite 
a  vulgar  error  is  it  in  fact  to  confound  the  Col- 
legiate institutions  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  with 
the  monastic  system.  These  Societies  were  intended, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  supply  the  great  and  grow- 
ing need  which  the  Monasteries  overlooked.  They 
were  designed  for  the  education  of  parochial  clergy ;  and 
were  set  on  foot  by  earnest-minded  men,  in  advance  of 
their  age,  who,  sincerely  desiring  the  Church's  welfare, 
perceived  that  the  truest  way  to  promote  it  was  to  im- 
prove the  condition,  and  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 
stationary  and  secular  clergy." 

Of  Worcester,  to  the  Historical  Notice  of  which  he 
appends  his  verses  on  "  Worcester  College,"  he  says,  as  if 
to  counterbalance  the  lateness  of  its  collegiate  origin  : — 

"Although  it  is  true  that  this  is  the  last-founded  of 
the  nineteen  colleges  of  Oxford,  yet  it  is  just  as  un- 
deniable that  if  a  stranger,  visiting  the  University,  were 
to  require  to  be  shown  the  oldest  extant  specimen  of 
collegiate  residences  of  which  the  place  can  boast,  we 
should  conduct  him  to  Worcester  College," — 

— "  a  terraced  height 

Crowned  by  tall  structures  of  a  classic  mould 
On  this  side;  and  on  that,  a  row  of  small 
Irregular  antique  tenements  tcith  quaint  shields 
Bossing  each  doorway.     Wide  between  the  twain, 
Guiltless  of  daisies,  spread  an  emerald  lawn, 
Severing  as  'twere  the  old  world  from  the  new, 
The  present  from  the  past :  and  there  were  flowers 
(So  bright  and  young  beside  those  old  grey  walls !) 
Which  humanized  the  scene,  as  children  do, 
With  touch  of  fresher  nature,"  &c.,  &c. 

But  the  series  of  '  Historical  Notices '  is  interesting  and 
attractive  throughout.  Perhaps  that  of  Jesus  College, 
with  its  deeply  interesting  account  of  Dr.  Francis  Man- 
sell,  the  royalist  President,  ejected  during  the  Common- 

VOL.   I.  R 


242  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

wealth  and  reinstated  at  the  Restoration,  and  also  of  the 
discipline  of  the  College  during  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  "conversation  was  to  be 
conducted  in  Latin,  Greek,  or  Hebrew  (!),"  and  "  the  col- 
lege porter  was  also  the  college  barber6," — will  instruct 
and  entertain  the  reader  as  much  as  any.  While  the 
account  of  Bishop  Fox's  Statutes  for  Corpus  Christi 
(A.  D.  1527)  and  of  the  opening  of  the  Bishop's  tomb  in 
Winchester  Cathedral  in  1820,  when  "the  figure  was 
found  lying  undisturbed,  as  it  had  been  laid  three  cen- 
turies before,"  the  robes,  mitre,  gloves,  and  boots,  all 
faded,  but  entire,  and  "the  fragments  of  the  broken  wands 
of  the  officials  who  attended  his  obsequies  discernible  on 
either  side  of  his  coffin,"  will  draw  attention  to  the  notice 
of  a  College  illustrious  in  many  ways,  but  in  none  more 
than  from  the  circumstance  of  having  had  among  its 
scholars  Mr.  Richard  Hooker,  whose  rooms  can  be  with 
certainty  identified  at  the  present  day,  "  the  circum- 
stance "  (of  his  having  inhabited  those  particular  rooms) 
"  having  been  made  the  subject  of  contemporary  record." 
The  notes  which  he  would  draw  up  preparatory  to 
the  "  reading  Genesis  with  a  class  of  the  citizens  at  the 
Town  Hall"  (see  the  letter  to  Mr.  Hensley  of  March 

*  "  These,  and  many  other  regula-  from  Wales  to  Oxford  (which  is 
tions,  though  evidently  copied  from  just  a  hundred  years  since),  stage- 
older  statutes,  show  the  permanency  coaches  being  as  yet  unknown,  he 
of  a  state  of  things  which  it  is  hard  made  the  journey,  in  company  with 
to  realize  in  connexion  with  the  three  other  friends,  in  six  days ;  the 
reign  of  the  first  James"  (its  statutes  party  having  provided  themselves 
were  given  in  the  year  1612  by  four  with  Welsh  ponies  for  the  occasion, 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  which  they  used  to  dispose  of  on 
king).  "  And  yet,  it  is  not  necessary  reaching  the  University.  Only 
to  refer  to  written  evidence  in  illus-  punch  and  ale  were  then  drunk  in 
tration  of  vicissitudes  at  least  as  Oxford:  or  if  sherry  appeared  at 
striking.  I  am  informed  by  the  dinner,  it  was  handed  round  to  the 
venerable  Principal  of  Jesus  College,  guests  as  liqueur" 
that  when  his  father  first  came  up 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      243 


17.  iS^?),  no  doubt  served  as  the  nucleus  of  Ten  Ex-  A.D.  1857. 

\jEt    A.  A  1 

pository  Lectures  on  Genesis,  which  he  has  left  behind, 
and  which  he  contemplated  one  day  continuing,  until  he 
should  have  made  a  complete  Commentary  on  the  First 
Book  of  the  Pentateuch,  as  he  has  done  on  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  He  had  always  a  particular  attraction  to 
the  Book  of  Genesis,  partly  from  the  great  freshness  and 
simplicity  of  the  picture  which  it  presents  of  Patriarchal 
manners,  and  partly  from  the  feeling  that  the  attitude 
which  a  man  takes  up  as  regards  the  first  Chapter 
(which  is  a  specimen  of  pure  Revelation,  and  where 
human  testimony  could  not  have  been,  as  in  so  many 
other  parts  of  Holy  Scripture  it  was,  the  vehicle  of  the 
Divine  communication)  is  decisive  of  the  soundness  or 
unsoundness  of  his  views  as  regards  the  question  of 
Scriptural  Inspiration  generally.  His  '  Homiletics  on 
<»',iesis  '  (as  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury  calls  them  in  a  letter 
in  which  he  speaks  of  them  in  high  terms)  will  be 
noticed  in  another  Section,  when  we  reach  the  year 
(  j  865)  in  which  that  letter  was  written. 

In  the  year  1858,  when  such  movements  were  com-  A.D.  1858. 
parative  novelties  in  our  Church,  as  they  are  now  no 
longer,  Bishop  Wilberforce  inaugurated  Missions  at 
Henley,  Reading,  and  other  places  in  his  Diocese,  he 
himself  personally  taking  the  chief  part  in  the  Mission 
Services  at  the  town  fixed  upon  as  the  centre,  and 
sending  selected  missioners  to  hold  evening  Services  at 
the  neighbouring  villages.  Burgon  was  opposed  to 
Home  Missions  in  their  later  developments,  as  we 
shall  see  hereafter  ;  but,  ever  loyal  in  his  allegiance  to 
his  Bishop,  he  would  not  hold  aloof  from  a  movement 
which  that  Bishop  had  set  on  foot,  with  high  expecta- 
tions of  what  was  to  come  of  it. 

He  was  invited  to  preach  at  Henley  ;  and  he  complied. 
R  2 


244  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  Mr.  Burgon,"  says  one  of  his  hearers  in  a  letter  to  the 
author, 

"preached  a  remarkable  Sermon  at  Henley,  taking  as 
his  text,  '  There  is  a  lad  here,' — and  that  was  all.  Of 
course  the  eyes  of  all  the  lads  in  the  Church  were 
fastened  upon  him !  The  moral  he  pointed  was  to  the 
effect  that  nothing  was  too  insignificant  for  the  Master's 
use.  Even  this  poor  lad  with  his  slender  provision  was 
destined  to  feed  five  thousand." 

The  reader  will  be  struck  with  the  similarity  of  this 
line  of  thought  to  that  which  is  taken  in  the  passage 
cited  above  from  his  '  Short  Sermons  for  Family  Reading  ' ; 
as  also  by  the  similarity  of  the  text  upon  which  the 
lesson  is  founded — a  lesson  drawn  in  both  cases  from  a 
single  humble,  nameless  individual — "  He  saw  also  a 
poor  widow."  Both  discourses  were  evidently  coined 
in  the  same  mint. 

It  was  Bishop  Wilberforce's  way  to  spare  neither  him- 
self nor  his  subordinates.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Hensley 
dated  Easter  Tuesday,  1858,  Burgon  tells  his  friend  in 
connexion  with  this  Mission  ;  "  I  think  I  must  send  you 
a  paper  of  the  Sermons,  &c.  Seven  fell  to  me  :  twenty-two 
to  the  Bishop's  share !  I  also  preached  the  Ordination 
Sermon."  And  an  excerpt  from  a  letter  of  the  same  year 
to  the  same  friend  (June  3,  1858),  recalling  the  circum- 
stances of  a  visit  paid  by  him  to  Mr.  Hensley  in  1856, 
will,  it  is  thought,  interest  the  reader,  as  one  of  those 
gleams  of  playful,  frolicsome  affectionateness  and  domes- 
ticity, which  lighted  up  Burgon's  character  throughout 
life,  and  constituted  one  of  its  greatest  charms.  It  will 
be  found  at  the  end  of  this  Period. 

In  the  August  of  this  year  (i  858),  nearly  four  years  after 
the  death  of  his  mother,  Burgon  lost  his  father,  and  then 
experienced  that  sense  of  desolateness  and  being  left 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      245 

alone  in  the  world,  which  no  bereavement  brings  with 
it  so  keenly  as  that  of  parents-.  It  was  possibly  when 
David  heard  of  the  death  of  his  father  and  mother  in 
the  land  of  Moab  (see  i  Sam.  xxii.  3),  that,  smarting 
under  this  experience,  and  with  a  reference  to  the  office 
of  the  "gathering  host"  in  the  march  through  the 
wilderness, — whose  duty  it  was,  coming  in  the  rear  of 
the  other  tribes,  to  take  up  and  carry  forward  any  sick 
or  infirm  folks  who  might  have  dropped  from  mules 
and  caravans  without  being  noticed, — he  sang  those  sweet 
words  of  consolation,  put  into  his  mouth  by  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  "  When  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me, 
then  the  LORD  will  gather  me"  (Ps.  xxvii.  10  marg.}. — 
Here  are  Burgon's  reflexions  on  the  same  experience,  a 
year  after  he  had  been  called  upon  to  go  through  it. 

"  Houghton  Conquest.  Sunday  Evening,  Aug.  28, 
1859,  about  20  min.  to  10  p.m. — It  is  a  year  exactly, 
within  a  few  minutes,  since  I  lost  my  dearest  Father. 

and  I  cannot   help  reverting  to  my  great,  my 

irreparable  loss. 

'•  For  though  my  dear  Father  had  been  too  much  of 
an  invalid, — oppressed  with  too  many  infirmities — to  be 
as  it  were  much  of  a  companion  for  some  years,  yet  his 
great  tenderness  and  affection  was  something  on  which  I 
have  since  discovered  that  I  used  to  lean  ;  and  the  want 
of  it  I  every  day  feel  more  and  more.  I  have  no  one 
now, — no  one,  to  whom  I  can  turn  for  unmingled 
sympathy  in  joy  or  sorrow;  no  one,  who  can  and  will 
rejoice  in  my  joy,  and  sorrow  for  my  sorrow,  as  some- 
thing which  belongs  to  himself.  A  parent's  love  is  so 
singular  a  sentiment  that  it  almost  requires  to  be  called 
by  a  different  name.  Sweeter  and  softer  it  is  even  than 
the  love  of  married  life ;  for  it  dates  from  remote  in- 
fancy and  the  dawn  of  remembrance ;  and  it  is  not 
co-ordinate  with  another  love,  but  it  loves  itself  in  its 
object,  and  is  a  shadow  of  the  Divine  Love,  even  the 
love  of  our  Father  in  Heaven ! 


246  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

"  How  much  do  I  feel  the  want  of  my  dearest  Parents ! 
How  solemn  is  the  thought  that  I  shall  never  behold 
either  of  them  any  more !  that  I  must  gather  up,  and 
garner  away  the  images  which  memory  presents ;  for 
that  the  originals  are  departed  for  ever ! .  .  .  .  I  shall  go 
to  them ;  but  they  shall  not  return  to  me. 

"  Strange  indeed  it  seems  to  be  writing  such  words ; 
for  I  can  scarce  believe  the  reality  of  what  I  write.  I 
was  41,  and  I  was  45,  when  I  lost  them.  And  so  from 
infancy,  through  boyhood,  on  to  early  manhood,  and  at 
least  until  I  had  passed  the  middle  term  of  life,  we  were 
together.  Two  days  arrived — 7  Sep.  1854  and  28  Aug. 
1858 — and  O  the  difference  !  At  first,  a  bereaved  and 
broken  heart,  and  next  a  desolate,  or  rather  a  destroyed, 
home.  All  seems  quite  changed !  The  generation  of  my 
early  manhood  seems  quite  passed  from  me ;  and  I  find 
myself  taking  up  a  position  of  my  own, — drifting  down 
a  distinct  current, — associated  with  new  friends,  and  as 
completely  severed  from  the  past  as  if  an  ocean  rolled 
between !  " 


From  a  later  memorandum  made  on  the  same  anni- 
versary in  the  year  1860,  it  appears  that  all  Mr.  Thomas 
Burgon's  children,  as  well  as  John  William,  were  "  sitting 
about"  him,  as  "  he  lay  upon  his  death-bed."  His  body 
was  brought  to  Oxford  by  his  son,  and  buried  in  the 
Holywell  Cemetery,  by  the  side  of  that  of  his  wife. 

l859-  In  the  Lent  of  1859,  another  effort  was  made  by  Bishop 
Wilberforce  to  organize  a  series  of  Special  Services  in 
North  Bucks,  similar  to  that  which  in  the  preceding 
year  had  been  made  at  Henley-on-Thames,  and  Burgon 
was  again  called  in  (with  sixteen  other  preachers)  to  give 
his  help,  which  he  did  with  promptness  and  efficiency. 
The  occasion  has  a  special  interest  in  connexion  with 
his  views  on  the  subject  of  Home  Missions,  because  he 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      247 

printed  and  published  (at  the  request  of  the  Bishop  and 
Clergy)  the  Ordination  Sermon  which  he  preached  at 
Buckingham,  March  20,  1859,  the  day  on  which  the 
Mission  terminated,  prefixing  to  it  "  Some  account  of 
the  Special  Services  for  the  Working  Classes  in  North 
Bucks  during  the  Lenten  Ember  Week  of  1859."  In 
this  Preface  he  not  only  records  the  proceedings  of  the 
Mission  on  each  day  of  the  Week,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Conference  of  the  Clergy  and  Laity  which  was  held 
on  the  Saturday,  but  also  at  some  length  vindicates  the 
movement  from  certain  objections  to  which  he  thinks  it 
might  be  open.  His  summing  up  of  the  objections  and 
of  the  answers  to  them  is  that,  while  "no  remedy  of 
Man's  invention  for  any  evil  under  the  sun  is  an  un- 
mixed good,"  there  is  "  a  considerable  balance  of  good  to 
be  clearly  foreseen,  or  at  least  to  be  confidently  hoped 
for,"  from  efforts  like  the  present. 

"  The  object,"  he  says,  "  was  to  quicken  the  spiritual 
life  of  an  agricultural  district :  to  stir  up,  and  if  possible 
to  awaken,  the  slumbering  vitality  of  a  certain  portion 
of  a  large,  and  once  neglected  Diocese.  The  machinery 
employed  was  simply  that  which  the  Church  herself  has 
provided  for  such  purposes :  but  the  efforts  were  of  an 
unusually  cumulative  character ;  and  the  novelty  of  the 
endeavour,  such  as  it  is,  consisted  in  the  systematic 
concentration  of  efforts  within  a  certain  district ;  the 
extraneous  help  invocated  on  a  somewhat  large  scale ; 
and  the  presence,  example,  and  powerful  co-operation  of 
the  Diocesan,  throughout.  It  is  only  necessary  to  refer 
to  the  list  of  Preachers  to  see  how  utterly  devoid  of  a 
/tarty  character  the  whole  endeavour  has  been." 

To  a  student  of  Burgon's  mind  and  character  the 
difference  between  the  tone  of  this  Preface  and  his  entire 
disapprobation  of  the  Home  Mission  movement  at  a 
later  period,  when  it  had  more  or  less  identified  itself 


248 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


with  a  particular  School  of  Theology,  and  had  shaken 
itself  altogether  free  from  the  control  and  superintendence 
of  the  Diocesan,  is  of  great  interest  and  curiosity.  Yet 
it  cannot  be  fairly  alleged  that  he  had  altered  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  an  important  Church  movement.  The 
movement  in  its  maturity  had  acquired  certain  features 
which  did  not  belong  to  its  original  design. — The  Sermon 
itself,  to  which  the  account  of  the  Special  Services  is  pre- 
fixed, is  on  the  text, "  One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth." 
Beyond  the  opening  of  it, — in  which  he  points  out  the 
prophetic  associations  connected  with  "  the  parcel  of 
ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his  son  Joseph,"  and  in 
which  the  allegorizing  of  "  the  sixth  hour,"  of  the  meeting 
with  the  Samaritan  woman  at  the  well,  and  of  the 
"  fruitful  bough  by  a  well,"  is  quite  in  his  own  vein 7, — 


7  "Look  more  closely  at  the 
picture,  and  you  discover  many  of 
those  fainter  lines  which  go  to  com- 
plete the  image,  and  conspire  to 
produce  the  general  effect.  It  was 
harvest-time,  as  the  language  of  the 
great  Husbandman  shews.  Behold, 
the  fields  of  that  fertile  region  were 
white  already  to  harvest.  Again, 
it  was  the  sixth  hour : — which,  as 
you  are  aware,  in  St.  John's  Gospel 
denotes  the  evening  of  the  day,  our 
six  o'clock.  It  was  the  Evening  of 
the  World  therefore,  shewn  in  a 
figure :  and  lo,  the  harvest  of  the 
Earth  was,  in  a  figure,  ripe.  How 
fitting  therefore  was  it  that  at  that 
hour  of  the  day,  and  at  that  season 
of  the  year,  and  at  that  spot  of  the 
Holy  Land,  our  SAVIOUR  CHRIST 
should  have  begun  to  gather  in  the 
first-fruits  of  His  spiritual  Harvest ! 
...  As  Isaac's  servant  meets  Re- 
bekah,— as  Jacob  himself  meets 


Rachel, — as  Moses  encounters  Zip- 
porah, — at  a  .  well ;  what  more 
fitting  than  that  He,  of  whom  all 
these  were  shadows,  the  Bridegroom 
as  He  loved  to  call  Himself,  should 
meet  His  alien  Spouse,  the  Samari- 
tan Church,  at  a  well  of  water 
likewise?  .  .  .  Verily,  here  was 
Jacob's  remote  descendant  at  last 
fulfilling  the  dying  Patriarch's 
prophecy,  after  the  most  exact  and 
literal  fashion.  It  was  beside  Jacob's 
well  that  He  sat ;  and  in  '  the 
parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob  gave  to 
his  son  Joseph '  that  He  discoursed 
with  the  woman  of  Samaria :  and 
lo,  Joseph  becomes  at  once  a 
'  fruitful  bough,'  even  that  'fruitful 
bough  by  a  well,'  of  which  the 
dying  Patriarch  made  prophetic 
mention, — '  whose  branches  run ' 
over  the  wall '  which  heretofore 
had  severed  Jew  and  Gentile  !"  [pp. 
18,  19]. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      249 

there  is  little  in  it  that  lifts  it  above  the  ordinary  run 
of  good  sermons  appropriate  to  their  occasion. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1859  appeared  the  work, 
which  it  appears  from  his  letters  he  had  been  for  some 
time  preparing  for,  "  The  Portrait  of  a  Christian  Gentle- 
man. A  Memoir  of  Patrick  Eraser  Tytler,  author  of 
'  The  Hixtory  of  Scotland J  By  his  friend,  the  Rev.  John 
W.  Burgon,  M.A.  Fellow  of  Oriel  College."  Mr.  Tytler 
had  passed  away  more  than  nine  years  previously,  on 
the  Christmas  Eve  which  followed  the  day  of  Burgon's 
Ordination  to  the  Priesthood, — Dec.  24,  1849. 

"  Love's  own  hands  decked  the  room,  and  the  couch 
whereon  Mr.  Tytler  lay,  with  holly;  and  it  seemed  to 
those  who,  sorrowing  for  themselves,  looked  upon  him 
in  his  last  sleep,  that  to  him  alone  had  come  the  real 
joy  of  Christmas."  [J/ewo/r,  2nd  Ed.  p.  353.] 

It  might  seem  strange  that  Burgon,  loving  Tytler  as 
he  did,  allowed  several  years  to  elapse  before  he  "  sought 
to  embalm  "  his  friend's  "  memory  in  the  only  way  which 
-was  permitted  to  him."  But  a  moment's  reflexion  solves 
any  difficulty  which  might  be  felt  on  this  head.  Only 
admitted  to  full  Orders  at  the  moment  of  Ty tier's  death, 
the  first  duty  incumbent  upon  him  was  evidently  to 
"  make  full  proof  of  his  ministry,"  which  he  did  by 
throwing  himself  with  all  the  fervour  of  his  ardent 
nature  into  the  Pastoral  Work  of  his  Curacies  at  West 
Ilsley  and  Finrnere.  But  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  give 
himself  to  that  work  exclusively.  At  that  period  of  his 
life,  it  will  be  remembered,  he  was  compelled  by  the 
narrow  stipend  of  his  Fellowship  and  the  necessity  of 
assisting,  as  much  as  he  could,  the  members  of  his  family, 
to  take  private  pupils.  He  had  on  his  hands  at  the 
same  time  his  'Plain  Commentary  on  the  Gospels,'  as 


250  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

well  as  his  '  Short  Sermons  for  Family  Reading ' :  it  was 
evidently  his  intention  to  make  his  mark  in  Divinity 
before  he  ventured  upon  a  work  of  purely  secular  Lite- 
rature. Add  to  this  that  not  only  did  the  Church 
movements  and  the  Academic  movements  going  on  in 
his  immediate  neighbourhood  absorb  an  unusual  amount 
of  his  attention,  and  draw  ever  and  anon  contemporary 
strictures  and  observations  from  his  facile  pen;  but  that 
his  mother's  death  in  1854  created  in  him  a  mental  dis- 
turbance of  a  peculiar  character,  much  more  than  men  of 
ordinary  mould  experience  under  similar  bereavements. 
Tytler  had  been  especially  dear  to  him;  but  he  had 
literally  no  time  to  do  justice  to  Tytler's  memory  and  to 
the  materials  which  Tytler's  friends  put  into  his  hands, 
until  he  had  thoroughly  initiated  himself  into  the  Sacred 
Ministry,  had  consecrated  his  earliest  literary  labours  to 
the  cause  of  Religion,  and  had  leisure  to  breathe  again 
after  what  he  would  feel  to  be  an  overwhelming  domestic 
calamity.  Then  he  put  his  hand  to  the  work,  and 
produced  (the  reader  will  remember  that  this  was  not 
his  earliest  attempt  at  Biography, — Gresham  preceded  it 
by  more  than  twenty  years)  what  was  certainly  one  of 
the  most  successful  and  popular  biographies  of  the  day. 
The  work  has  long  been  before  the  public ;  and  we  shall 
not  stay  to  present  the  reader  with  any  specimens  of  it, 
one  or  two  having  been  already  given  in  the  Chapter 
which  recorded  the  origin  and  growth  of  his  friendship 
with  Mr.  Tytler.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  writing  of 
Tytler's  Memoir  must  have  been  a  most  congenial  task 
to  him,  from  the  thoroughly  kindred  spirit  of  the 
biographer  and  his  subject  Tytler's  piety,  playful- 
ness, vivacity,  excessive  love  of  children  and  delight 
in  playing  with  them,  as  well  as  his  extraordinary  in- 
dustry and  incessant  application  to  study,  even  to  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      251 

prejudice  of  his  health,  were  all  exactly  reproduced  in 
his  younger  friend; — to  which  it  may  be  added  that 
the  lofty  chivalrous  feeling  which  is  such  an  essential 
element  in  high  breeding,  and  contributes  to  make  Tytler's 
Memoir  the  ''Portrait  of  a  Christian  Gentleman"  charac- 
terized Burgon  in  a  high  degree,  and  was  occasionally 
in  him  carried  to  the  verge  of  the  Quixotic.  The 
beautiful  little  Poem  "  L'Envoy,  addressed  to  P.  Fraser 
Tytler,"  and  "  intended  for  the  conclusion  of  a  long  un- 
finished poem,  is  a  touching  testimony  to  the  community 
of  sentiment  which  Burgon  felt  to  exist  between  him 
and  Tytler  ;— 

And  bold  I  am  to  vaunt  these  joys  to  thee" 
(the  joys  of  common  sights  and  common  sounds), 

"  Friend  of  my  heart ! — for  unto  thee  I  know 
The  simplest  joys  the  dearest  still  to  be,"  &c.,  &c. 

The  general  appreciation  of  Tytler's  Memoir  by  literary 
men  may  be  judged  of  by  the  accompanying  letter  from 
the  Reverend  Edward  Churton  (afterwards  Archdeacon 
of  Cleveland),  whose  general  cultivation  and  competence 
as  a  literary  critic  are  still  remembered.  A  very  flattering 
notice  of  the  Book  appeared  also  in  the  '  Quarterly  Review' 
and  in  other  periodicals  of  a  high  class ;  and  a  second 
Edition,  to  which  the  author  added  a  few  new  pages,was 
"  called  for  within  two  months  of  the  date  of  publication." 

FROM  THE  REVEREND  EDWARD  CHURTON,  RECTOR 
OF  CRAYKE. 

"Bournemouth,  May  n,  1859. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Burgon, — How  can  I  thank  you  in  any 
due  measure  for  your  Memoir  of  P.  F.  Tytler?  There  is 
only  one  epithet,  which  we  could  find  to  apply  to  it, 
and  that  one  we  have  repeated  from  beginning  to  end, 


252  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

as  we  read  one  Chapter  after  another,  or  rather  inter- 
rupted our  reading  to  repeat  it  after  every  second  page 
or  paragraph.  It  is  charming, — a  charming  piece  of 
Biography,  and  surely  of  one  of  the  most  charming 
characters  that  has  ever  been  shown  upon  this  transient 
scene.  We  respond  to  every  syllable  of  the  last  para- 
graph of  your  Postscript;  we  feel  assured  from  the 
beautiful  specimens  of  his  conversation  and  rare  social 
virtues,  which  you  have  given  us,  that  all  must  have 
been  as  pure  and  lovely  as  you  say. 

"  What  a  beauty  there  is  in  his  language  itself,  what 
pure  enjoyment  of  Nature,  what  power  of  appreciation 
of  character !  The  Letter  given  in  pp.  248-9,  is  worthy  to 
be  engraved  in  letters  of  gold.  But  how  many  little  moral 
lessons  of  the  same  character  are  scattered  up  and  down  ! 

"  Your  own  personal  narrative  of  the  excursion  to  Ben 
Muik  Dhui  is  as  delightful  a  bit  of  reading  as  I  ever  came 
across.  It  is  truly  redolent  of  the  Highlands.  But  who 
can  forbear  envying  your  good  fortune  in  having  enjoyed 
such  an  excursion  with  such  company  ? 

"I  left  the  neighbourhood  of  London  in  1835,  when 
it  seems  that  Tytler's  '  Hut.  of  Scotland '  first  began  to 
be  much  noticed.  After  settling  in  the  N.  Riding, 
opportunities  of  meeting  friends,  who  were  literary 
men,  or  who  read  the  literature  of  the  day,  were  much 
diminished ;  and  I  fear,  except  for  some  casual  mention 
of  some  of  his  historical  discoveries  in  Letters  from  some 
of  my  friends,  I  have  made  no  acquaintance  with  them. 
But  truly  your  account  of  the  man  is  enough  to  make 
others  beside  me  wish  to  know  more  of  his  writings. 
He  was  one,  if  ever  there  was  one,  who  had  such  a  high 
sense  of  the  duties  of  an  historian :  and  his  power  must 
have  been  great. 

"  The  judgment  of  poor  Mary  Q.  of  Scots,  p.  228,  is 
very  interesting.  I  have  W.  Tytler  (the  Grandfather's) 
Book  at  Crayke :  and  I  thought  at  least  that  he  proved 
the  accusers  to  be  so  worthless,  that  he  had  destroyed 
the  old  evidence,  on  which  Robertson  and  Hume  built. 
But  I  have  seen  a  volume  or  two  of  Prince  Labanotf  s 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      253 

Collection  :  and  one  cannot,  I  think,  go  far  with  Mary's 
own  Letters  without  a  moral  impression  that  she  was 
not  quite  the  person  one  would  like  to  take  a  brief  to 
defend.  I  suppose  these  later  discoveries  are  those  which 
turned  the  balance  against  her  in  Tytler's  honest  mind. 

"  Do  not  trouble  yourself  to  answer  this,  but  consider 
it  as  an  irrepressible  testimony  of  thanks  to  you  for  your 
admirable  Book.  It  must  surely  go  through  more 
editions  :  and  then  should  we  not  have  a  Portrait  in  the 
front  of  it  ? 

"  Most  sincerely  yours, 

.  CHURTON." 


The  earlier  part  of  the  year  1860  was  marked  for  A.D.  18 
Burgon  by  his  three  months'  sojourn  at  Rome  (Feb.  19  —  ^''  4 
May  20).  The  Rev.  R.  E.  R.  Watts  (now  Vicar  of  Wisbech), 
at  that  time  Chaplain  of  the  English  Congregation  at 
Rome,  had  occasion  to  be  absent  from  his  post  for  six 
months.  Burgon,  whose  duties  at  Oxford  did  not  allow 
him  to  be  absent  for  so  long  a  time,  was  only  able  to 
relieve  Mr.  Watts  for  half  of  the  period  ;  and  it  was 
arranged  that  for  the  other  three  months  of  Mr.  Watts' 
absence  Archdeacon  Thomas  should  undertake  the  duties 
of  the  Chaplaincy.  Once  embarked  on  the  Pastoral  work 
at  Rome,  we  find  him,  true  to  his  character  and  methods 
of  action  at  West  Ilsley  and  Finmere,  throwing  the  whole 
of  his  heart  into  his  Ministry,  and  expressing  an  almost 
extravagant  delight  in  it,  just  as  on  those  earlier 
occasions.  For  this  is  the  Dedication  of  his  'Letters 
from  Rome,'  originally  published  in  the  '  Guardian  ' 
at  intervals  between  Aug.  15,  1860  and  Jan.  2,  1861, 
and  afterwards  collected,  and  published,  with  the 
insertion  of  several  additional  Letters,  in  a  single 
volume  [Murray:  1862];  — 


254  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

To  THE  ENGLISH  CONGREGATION  AT  ROME. 

("  February — May,  1860  ;) 
"  The  most  '  beautiful  flock '  I  ever  shepherded  : 

In  grateful  remembrance  of  the  days 
Which  their  kindness  made  passing  sweet  to  me  ; 

And  with  a  humble  prayer 

That,  to  some  members  of  that  flock  at  least, 

The  imperfect  Ministrations  of  those  days 

May  not  have  been  unblessed. 

"Oriel,  1861." 

It  must  be  remembered  that,  just  as  at  Hsley  and 
Finmere  there  had  been  many  other  calls,  in  connexion 
with  his  College,  his  University,  his  pupils,  his  literary 
works  to  distract  him  from  his  pastoral  labours,  so  at 
Rome  there  were  a  thousand  new  objects,  offering  all  of 
them  points  of  the  deepest  interest  to  a  mind  like  his, 
which,  in  a  man  less  many-sided,  and  less  capable  of 
doing  many  things  at  once,  might  have  been  held  to 
excuse  some  amount  of  lukewannness  and  slackness 
in  Pastoral  duty.  We  find,  however,  from  the  "Letters" 
that  his  ears  and  eyes  are  wide  open  to  every  object  of 
attraction  offered  by  the  Eternal  City;  his  note-book, 
sketch-book,  and  pencil  are,  as  usual,  in  his  hand  all 
day  long.  He  attends  observantly  all  Roman  services 
and  forms  of  Devotion,  and  compares  them  with  the 
Anglican,  not  unfairly8,  though  always  of  course  with 

8  In  proof  of  this,  see  his  account  certainly  the  least  dull  of  teachere 
of  a  Jesuit's  excellent  sermon  at  a  and  preachers)  ;  and  the  following  : 
"Missione"  on  Ascension  Day  "  He  must  have  a  very  cold  hard 
[Letter  ix.  p.  82],  his  admission  heart  who  should  be  able  to  pass 
respecting  the  "  Dialogo," — that  it  the  solemn  season  of  Lent  in  Rome, 
"  combines  almost  all  the  advantages  untouched  by  the  number  and 
of  public  chatechizing,  and  entirely  variety  of  the  methods  he  sees  em- 
escapes  all  its  evils,"  [p.  87]  (the  ployed  for  stimulating  the  piety  of 
vivacity  of  the  "Dialogo"  would  the  people.  ...  I  would  defy  any 
doubtless  commend  it  to  one  who  was  clergyman,  let  his  views  be  what 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      255 

a  decided  preference  for  the  latter;  he  listens  to  and 
reports  Sermons  and  dialogos  (showing  that  he  must  have 
possessed  a  fair  working  knowledge  of  Italian, — probably 
he  obtained  the  rudiments  of  it  in  childhood  from  his 
mother);  he  witnesses  processions,  missions,  and  the 
grotesque  absurdities  of  relic-worship;  he  has  inter- 
views with  the  superiors  of  Convents,  and  elicits  from 
them  the  truth  as  to  the  exact  observance  in  their 
establishments  of  the  Seven  Hours  of  Prayer  ;  he  visits 
and  minutely  describes  the  Catacombs,  copying  and 
commenting  upon  many  of  the  Inscriptions,  and  showing 
therefrom  the  "  unequivocal  sympathy  of  the  Primitive 
Age  with  the  English  rather  than  with  the  Romish 
branch  of  the  Catholic  Church " ;  he  gets  access  to 
several  of  the  more  rarely  visited  objects  of  interest,  as 
well  as  to  those  which  all  the  world  makes  a  point  of 
seeing ;  and  before  leaving  Italy,  he  visits  Naples  and 
Pompeii,  and  makes  the  ascent  of  Vesuvius,  an  incident 
which  he  records  in  his  usual  vivid  and  picturesque 
strain.  The  Book  is  concluded  by  three  very  useful 
Letters  addressed  to  a  nameless  correspondent,  who  had 
apostatized  to  Rome,  and  had  thought  fit  to  remonstrate 
with  him  on  his  "position"  as  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  England.  They  are  "  intended  to  embody  a  popular 
reply  to  the  popular  objections  made  by  Romanists  or 
Romanizers  against  our  own  branch  of  the  Catholic 

they  might,  to  survey,  in  some  out-  standing  on  a  palco  (or  little  low 

of-the-way  church,  the  large  circle  scaffold),  just  above  their  heads, — 

of  seated  persons,  commonly  of  the  without  experiencing  the  liveliest 

humblest  class,  listening  with  rapt  emotions  of  pleasure ;   and,  (if  the 

attention  to  some  very  familiar  ex-  truth   must  be  spoken),    a    secret 

position   of  Christian  duty,   which  ejaculation, — '  I  only  wish  I  could 

was  being  delivered  to  them  with  make  people  attend  half  as  well  to 

infinite   unction   and    gesticulation  me  \ '  "     [Letter  vi.  p.  64.] 
by  an  impetuous,  earnest  speaker, 


256  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Church."  In  his  Preface  to  the  Work  he  explains  that 
the  Letters  were  not,  in  strictness,  written  from  Rome, 
where  indeed  he  could  find  no  time  to  write  them,  but 
were  drafted  and  thrown  into  shape  after  his  return  to 
England,  from  copious  notes  and  sketches  which  he 
had  made  upon  the  spot.  It  is  no  doubt  of  a  popular 
character,  and  addressed  throughout  (as  he  tells  us  in  the 
Preface)  "to  intelligent  rather  than  learned  readers" ;  but 
taking  into  consideration  his  pastoral  work  at  Rome, 
and  his  Replies  to  the  Seven  Essays  in  'Essays  and 
Revieics,'  to  which  he  found  it  necessary  to  address  him- 
self immediately  after  his  return,  while  this  lighter 
work,  descriptive  of  his  experiences  at  Rome,  was  yet 
upon  the  stocks,  it  is  really  a  most  extraordinary 
performance. 

Letters  II  and  III,  addressed  to  the  Principal  of  St. 
Edmund's  Hall  (Dr.  Barrow),  though  such  as  the  general 
public  might  esteem  "  dry  "  (as  indeed  a  lady  hinted  to 
the  writer  that  she  thought  them)9  are  in  one  point  of 
view  the  most  valuable  and  interesting  of  all.  The 
first  of  them  gives  a  useful  popular  account,  such  as  any 
one  who  applies  his  mind  cannot  fail  to  understand,  of 
Codex  B,  the  celebrated  Vatican  Manuscript  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  of  the  labours  of  Cardinal  Mai  and  Ver- 
cellone  in  connexion  with  it.  In  the  second  he  discusses 
the  relative  value  of  the  quarto  and  octavo  editions  of 
the  Codex  put  forth  by  Mai  and  Vercellone,  and  the 
probable  amount  of  accuracy  with  which  each  of  them 
represents  the  original  Codex,  now  lost.  He  sums  up 
by  fully  admitting  the  antiquity  of  Codex  B,  of  which 

"A  lady   did  the   writer   the  stantly  improve  his  style  :   for  that, . 

honour  to  send  him  word  that  if  he  '  Codex  was  very  dry.'  "    [Footnote 

expected  these  Letters  to  be  read  by  to  p.  64.] 
any  of  her  own  sex,  he  must  in- 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      257 

he  says,  "  I  see  not  how  it  can  be  thought  more  modern 
than  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century "  ;  while,  as 
regards  the  authenticity  of  its  text, — "  a  very  different 
thing  from  the  antiquity  of  a  Codex," — his  judgment  is 
that  "  the  text  of  Codex  B  is  one  of  the  most  vicious 
extant/'  In  this  manner  he  preludes  his  drastic  ob- 
servations on  the  shortcomings  of  Codex  B  (as  also  of 
Codex  N — the  Sinaitic  Manuscript)  in  Chapters  VI  and 
VII  of  his  '  Last  Twelve  Verses  of  St.  Mark?  and,  at  a  later 
period,  in  his  '  Revision  Revised!  In  the  judgment  of 
Dr.  Scrivener, — the  greatest  living  English  authority  on 
the  Greek  Text  of  the  New  Testament, — Burgon  ascribed 
to  Codex  B  a  value  considerably  below  that  to  which  it 
is  injustice  entitled.  This  will  appear  from  a  letter  of 
Dr.  Scrivener  to  the  author,  which  will  be  more  suitably 
introduced  in  connexion  with  Burgon's  later  labours  on 
the  text. 

He  was  indebted,  he  tells  us,  for  the  high  privilege  of 
examining  the  Vatican  Manuscript  (of  which  he  must 
have  availed  himself  on  several  occasions)  to  the  Cava- 
liere  G.  B.  de  Rossi,  author  of  '  The  Christian  Inscriptions 
in  the  Catacombs  of  the  First  Six  Centuries  after  Christ! 
But  that  he  was  accompanied  in  his  visits  of  inspection 
to  the  Vatican  by  other  persons  versed  in  the  MS. 
treasures  of  the  great  Library,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  memorandum  forwarded  to  the  author  by 
the  Reverend  Henry  Symonds,  Rector  of  Tivetshall : — 

"In  the  summer  of  1860  I  was  at  Rome  at  the  time 
when  Mr.  Burgon  was  acting  as  Chaplain  to  the  English 
residents  there.  I  was  wandering  one  day  about  the 
Vatican  Library,  admiring  Raffaelle's  beautiful  decora- 
tions of  the  book-cases,  when  I  saw  collected  round 
a  table  in  the  window  Mr.  Burgon  and  two  others.  He 
was  examining  a  rather  large  MS.  It  occurred  to  me 

VOL.    I.  S 


258  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

at  once  that  this  might  be  the  renowned  '  Codex  Vaticanus ' ; 
for  I  knew  that  he  was  a  man  likely  to  be  interested  in 
seeing  it.  I  therefore  accosted  him,  telling  him  that 
I  was  accustomed  to  MSS.,  having  been  for  seven  years 
one  of  the  Librarians  at  the  Bodleian.  He  received  me 
most  kindly,  saying  '  Oh  !  then  you  are  quite  the  right 
person  to  see  this  MS.,  which  is  the  '  Codex  Vaticanus' 
So  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  this  famous  Manu- 
script, which  falls  to  the  lot  of  very  few.  We  talked 
about  Coxe  "  [Henry  Octavius  Coxe,  one  of  the  "  Twelve 
Good  Men  "  of  whom  Burgon  wrote  Memoirs],  "  and  the 
many  quaint  things  that  he  would  say.  This  interview 
gave  me  the  chance  of  seeing  several  other  MSS. .among  the 
very  rarest  of  the  Vatican  Collection.  Mr.  Burgon  had 
with  him  an  Englishman,  who  seemed  to  be  perfectly  at 
home  in  the  Vatican.  He  asked  if  there  were  any 
others  I  should  like  to  see.  I  mentioned  six  or  seven  of 
the  very  oldest.  He  said  he  knew  the  numbers  of  them, 
and  called  for  them  at  once.  While  I  was  examining 
these,  Mr.  Burgon  pulled  out  and  opened  a  pen-knife, 
for  the  purpose  of  cutting  his  pencil.  The  Custode  im- 
mediately seized  the  '  Codex  Vaticanus '  in  his  arms, 
evidently  thinking  that  Burgon  was  going  to  cut  out 
a  leaf  or  leaves.  But  he  soon  allayed  the  Custode* 
fears  by  saying  that  the  MS.  was  as  dear  to  him  as 
to  the  keeper  of  it.  When  I  met  Mr.  Burgon  at  the 
Deanery  at  Norwich,  I  recalled  the  incident  to  him." 

Burgon  returned  from  Rome  in  the  May  of  1860  to 
find  himself  appointed  Select  Preacher,  and  was  called 
upon  to  make  his  first  appearance  before  the  University 
in  that  capacity  at  the  commencement  of  the  October 
term.  His  appointment  was  surely  one  of  the  instances, 
in  which  the  hand  of  God's  "  never-failing  Providence," 
which,  whether  we  can  trace  it  or  not,  "ordereth  all 
things,"  great  and  small,  "both  in  heaven  and  earth,"  may 
be  traced  in  visible  operation.  It  was  the  year  in  which 
that  most  censurable  volume  of  crude,  rationalistic, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      259 

and  dangerous  speculations  called  '  Essays  and  Reviews] 
— a  volume  which  we  might  congratulate  ourselves 
was  long  since  dead  and  buried,  if  it  were  not  that 
the  recent  springing  up  of  the  dragon's  teeth  indicates 
that  "the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth"  still  "work,"- 
was  put  forth  by  six  of  the  higher  Clergy  and  one  lay 
member  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  the  unsettlement 
of  many  minds  not  well  grounded  in  the  truth,  and  to 
the  dismay  of  all  who  had  learned  to  consider  their 
Bible,  and  the  old  faith  which  it  enshrines,  the  most 
precious  of  all  treasures.  What  may  be  called  the  first 
note  of  this  ill-starred  movement  was  struck  by  the 
Sermon  preached  in  Oxford  during  the  visit  of  the 
British  Association1,  of  which  Mr.  G.  V.  Cox  in  his 
'  Recollections  of  Oxford  '  [2nd  Ed.  p.  461]  gives  the  follow- 
ing notice  : — 

"  Dr.  Temple  was  not  contented  with  preaching  a 
sermon  of  a  somewhat  rationalistic  tendency  to  what 
in  a  great  measure,  an  ultra-Liberal  audience,  but, 
having  dressed  it  up  afresh,  he  presented  it  as  an  Essay 
'  On  the  Education  of  the  World,'  in  the  forefront  of 
that  unhappy  volume  '  Essays  and  Reviews.' " 

The  ground  no  doubt  had  long  been  preparing  in  the 
minds  of  the  alumni  of  Oxford.  Doubts  had  been  sown 
among  them  even  by  their  authorised  teachers. 

"  Divinity  Lectures  "  (writes  the  Rev.  Henry  Deane, 
reviewing  the  history  of  religious  thought  among  the 
undergraduates  in  Oxford  between  1846  and  1856) 
••  were  as  a  rule  very  poor  during  this  period.  '  Suspend 
your  judgment  on  the  Mosaic  miracles,'  one  Tutor  is 
reported  to  have  said. — '  Do  you  see  any  difficulty  in  this 
Article?'  asked  another  Tutor,  while  lecturing  on  the 
Thirty-Nine  Articles.  Of  course  the  class  saw  no  more 

1  The  visit  commenced  June  25. 
S    2 


260  LIFE  OF  DEAN  Brn- 

difficulty  in  an  Article  than  they  did  in  Aristotle-. 
after  a  few  words  he  said  ;  '  Do  you  all  see  the  difficulty 
now  ?'    Of  course  they  all  saw  it.     '  Very  well,'  said  the 
Tutor, '  let  us  go  on  to  the  next  Article.' 

Of  course  the  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
unhappy  undergraduates  were  by  no  means  all  of  this 
sort.  Many  of  the  older  men  were  deeply  interested  in 
them,  and  doing  a  noble  work  among  them,  specially  Dr. 
Heurtley  (Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity),  Mr.  Linton, 
Mr.  Litton, — nay,  Burgon  himself  who,  some  time  before 
the  period  at  which  we  have  now  arrived,  had  set  up 
Sunday  Evening  Bible  Classes  for  the  young  men  of  his 
own  College,  which  were  extended,  after  he  became 
Vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  to  embrace  a  larger  circle. 

"  The  appearance  of  '  E**ay*  and  Review*,' "  continues 
Mr.  Deane,  "  was  hailed  with  delight  by  many  of  the 
undergraduates.  It  was  not  so  much  the  cleverness  of 
the  Essays  that  they  admired  as  the  independence  of 
thought  displayed  by  the  Essayists.  .  .  .  The  volume  was 
the  first  thing  that  made  us  believe  that  seven  Ei  _ 
men  of  note  had  made  up  their  minds  to  tell  us  the 
truth.  The  '  E**ays  and  Review* '  were  shortly  followed 
by  Part  I  of  Colenso  '  On  the  Penlatewch  ;'  and  I  believe 
that  these  two  works,  and  the  effect  produced  upon  us 
undergraduates  and  neo-graduates  by  them,  led  Burgon 
to  preach  his  famous  Sermons  on  '  Inspiration  and  Inter- 
pretation.' " 

It  was  so  undoubtedly.  Burgon  himself  says  as  much 
in  his  Preface  to  the  Volume,  which  is  dated  "  Oriel,  June 
24th,  1861." 

" '  Euayt  and  Review*,' "  he  says,  "  with  the  turn  of  the 
year  experienced  a   vast  increase   of  notoriety.      The 
entire  Bench  of  Bishops  condemned  the  Book  ;  and 
Houses  of  Convocation  endorsed  the  Episcopal  censure. 
...  A  clamour  also  arose  for  a  Reply  to  these  seven 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      261 


champions,  —  not  exactly  of  Christendom.  '  You 
but  why  do  you  not  rc)>ti/  V  became  quite  a  popular  form 
of  reproach.  ...  It  struck  me  that  I  should  be  employing 
myself  not  unprofitably  at  such  a  juncture,  if  (laying 
aside  all  other  work  for  a  month  or  two  ;"  —  we  have 
seen  that  he  had  on  his  hand  the  drafting,  and  throwing 
into  the  shape  of  '  ]<<•//<  r*  front  AWr  /<>  l-'r/c/tilx  In  l.mj- 
finul!  the  various  notes  and  memoranda  which  he  had 
made  during  his  Roman  Chaplaincy  ;)"!  were  to  attempt 
a  short  reply  to  the  volume  in  question,  myself;  and  to 
combine  with  it  the  publication  of  the  Sermons  I  had 
already  preached"  (in  his  capacity  of  Select  Preacher); 
"  and  which  I  had  the  comfort  of  learning  had  not  only 
been  favourably  r»rri\vd  by  some  of  those  who  heard 
them,  but  had  attracted  some  slight  notice  outside  the 
University  also.  Accordingly,  with  not  a  little  reluc- 
tance, in  the  month  of  February  I  began." 

The  work  is  in  two  parts,  Destructive  and  Construc- 
tive, to  use  his  own  phraseology.  In  the  earlier  part. 
whieh  is  "addressed  to  the  undergraduate  members  of 
Oriel  College,"  he  demolishes  seriatim  the  arguments  of 
the  Essayists.  His  affectionate  solicitude  for  them  it 
is.  he  says  at  the  close  of  this  part,  which  has  moved 
him  to  write. 

"  I  trace  these  concluding  lines  —  (of  a  work  which, 
but  for  yoit,  would  never  have  been  undertaken,)  in  a 
quid'  empty  College,  and  in  the  room  where  we  have  so 
often  and  so  happily  met  on  Sunday  evenings.  Can  you 
wonder  if,  at  the  conclusion  of  what  has  proved  rather  a 
lim\y  task,  (so  fiafifnf  to  me  is  controversy),  my  thoughts 
revert  with  atli  etionate  solicitude  to  yourselves,  already 
sea  tt  civil  in  all  directions  ;  and  to  those  evenings  which 
more,  I  think,  than  any  other  thing,  have  gilded  my 
College  life?  —  In  thus  sending  you  a  written  farewell, 
and  praying  from  my  soul  that  GOD  may  bless  and  keep 
you  all,  I  cannot  suppress  the  earnest  entreaty  .  .  .  that 
you  would  persevere  in  the  daily  study  of  the  pure  Book 


262  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

of  Life  ;  and  that  you  would  read  it,  not  as  feeling  your- 
selves called  upon  to  sit  in  judgment  on  its  adorable 
contents  ;  but  rather,  as  men  who  are  permitted  to  draw 
near,  and  invited  to  listen,  and  to  learn,  and  to  live.  And 
so  farewell!" 

It  is  not  necessary  or  desirable  to  notice  in  any  detail 
this  first  and  controversial  portion  of  a  work,  which, 
admitting  certain  flaws  and  extravagances  of  expression 
in  it,  cannot  be  otherwise  regarded  than  as  a  powerful 
blow  struck  for  God's  Truth,  at  a  time  when  that  Truth 
was  being  gradually  undermined  by  the  corrosions  of  a 
plausible  Rationalism,  and  a  magnificent  vindication  of 
the  primary  axiom  of  Revelation  that  God's  word  is  to 
be  received,  by  those  who  hear  it  from  Prophets  and 
Apostles,  "  not  as  the  word  of  men,  but,  as  it  is  in  truth, 
the  word  of  God."  [See  i  Thess.  ii.  13.]  Burgon  is 
never  seen  at  his  best  in  controversy;  even  granting 
that  there  is  something  in  the  error  which  he  opposes, 
which  may  well  rouse  and  exasperate  a  righteous  zeal, 
he  seems  to  lose  all  self-command  in  inflicting  the 
censure,  and  when  his  conscience  reminds  him  that  even 
the  worst  errorists  are  to  be  remonstrated  with  before 
they  are  condemned,  his  remonstrance  is  too  apt  to  take 
the  form  of  a  lecture  and  a  scolding.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  he  holds  the  Seven  Essays  to  be  knit  together  (as 
there  is  no  doubt  they  are)  by  a  common  underlying 
idea,  presented  by  the  different  writers  in  different 
aspects  of  it  (:!  the  germ  of  the  last  essay  is  contained 
in  the  first "),  and  that  upon  his  Reply  to  the  last  Essay, 
("  On  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture  ")  he  has  bestowed 
especial  pains  and  attention,  giving  an  analysis  of  it 
in  his  Table  of  Contents,  as  he  has  done  to  none  of 
the  others.  The  writer  of  that  Essay  had  maintained 
that  Scripture  is  to  be  interpreted  like  any  other 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      263 

book.  Burgon  shows  that,  if  the  Bible  were  like 
any  other  book  in  its  origin  and  authority,  the  prin- 
ciple of  interpreting  it  in  a  similar  method  might 
be  freely  accepted ;  but  that,  since  it  is  of  a  different 
character  from  every  other  book  in  the  world,  being  not 
the  word  of  man,  but,  though  given  through  the  vehicle 
of  human  minds  and  human  language,  the  word  of  G.od, 
this  difference  of  character  justifies,  or  rather  necessi- 
tates, a  different  style  of  interpretation.  He  would  have 
done  well  to  have  added  at  full  length  what  he  has  only 
quoted  the  concluding  words  of — the  following  illustrious 
testimony  to  the  soundness  of  his  view,  and  to  the  shallow- 
ness  and  radical  unsoundness  of  the  view  of  his  opponent, 
from  Bacon's  'Advancement  of  Learning} — a  testimony 
which,  coming  as  it  does  from  the  Father  of  Inductive 
Science,  and  probably  the  greatest  thinker  and  philo- 
sopher that  our  country  has  ever  produced,  deserves  to 
be  written  in  letters  of  gold  : — 

"But  the  two  latter  points,  known  to  God,  and  un- 
known to  man,  touching  the  secrets  of  the  heart,  and  the 
successions  of  time,  do  make  a  just  and  sound  difference 
between  the  manner  of  the  exposition  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  all  other  books.  For  it  is  an  excellent  observation 
which  hath  been  made  upon  the  answers  of  our  Saviour 
Christ  to  many  of  the  questions  which  were  propounded 
to  him,  how  that  they  are  impertinent  to  the  state  of  the 
question  demanded ;  the  reason  whereof  is,  because  not 
being  like  man,  which  knows  man's  thoughts  by  his 
words,  but  knowing  man's  thoughts  immediately,  he 
never  answered  their  words,  but  their  thoughts  :  much 
in  the  like  manner  it  is  with  the  Scriptures,  which  being 
written  to  the  thoughts  of  men  and  to  the  succession  of 
all  ages,  with  a  foresight  of  all  heresies,  contradictions, 
differing  estates  of  the  church,  yea  and  particularly  of 
the  elect,  are  not  to  be  interpreted  only  according  to  the 
latitude  of  the  proper  sense  of  the  place,  and  respectively 


264  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

towards  that  present  occasion,  whereupon  the  words  were 
uttered,  or  in  precise  congruity  or  contexture  with  the 
words  before  or  after,  or  in  contemplation  of  the  principal 
scope  of  the  place;  but  have  in  themselves,  not  only 
totally  or  collectively,  but  distributively  in  clauses  and 
words,  infinite  springs  and  streams  of  doctrine  to  water 
the  church  in  every  part :  and  therefore  as  the  literal 
sense  is,  as  it  were,  the  main  stream  or  river,  so  the 
moral  sense  chiefly,  and  sometimes  the  allegorical  or 
typical,  are  they  whereof  the  church  hath  most  use  :  not 
that  I  wish  men  to  be  bold  in  allegories  or  indulgent  or 
light  in  allusions ;  but  that  I  do  much  condemn  that 
interpretation  of  the  Scripture,  which  is  only  after  the 
manner  as  men  use  to  interpret  a  profane  book."- 
"  Philosophical  Works.  Of  the  Proficience  and  Advance- 
ment of  Learning,  divine  and  human."  By  Francis 
Bacon.  Vol.  I.  Book  ii.  p.  128. 

The  second  and  constructive  part  of  'Inspiration  and 
Interpretation,'  equally  necessary  with  the  first,and  far  more 
interesting,  is  a  gift  of  permanent  and  lasting  value  to 
the  Church.  The  first  Sermon  recommending  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  and  giving  instruction  in  the  right  method  of 
studying  it, was  "intended,"  he  tells  us  in  the  Preface, "  to 
embody  the  advice  which  he  had  already  orally  given  to 
every  undergraduate  who  had  sought  counsel  at  his  hands 
for  many  years  past  in  Oxford."  The  points  are,  that 
the  Bible  is  to  be  read  through  without  any  commentary 
or  extraneous  help,  beginning  at  the  beginning,  and  never 
skipping  anything,  "  the  best  and  freshest  and  quietest 
half-hour  in  the  whole  day  "  being  "  deliberately  appor- 
tioned to  this  solemn  duty,"  which  "jealously-guarded 
half-hour  will  be  found  to  be  the  one  green  spot  in  the 
day,— like  Gideon's  fleece,  fresh  with  the  dew  of  the. 
early  morning,  when  it  is  'dry  upon  all  the  earth 
beside.' "  —It  should  be  added  that  Burgon  guards  care- 
fully against  tho  false  inference,  which  some  might  be 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      265 

disposed  to  draw  from  this  admonition  to  "  read  the  Bible 
through  patiently,  and  humbly,  and  laboriously,"  without 
note  or  comment, — the  inference  "  that  a  man  is  either 
at  liberty  or  able  to  gather  his  own  religion  for  himself 
out  of  the  Bible.  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  your 
sufficient  safeguard.  The  framework  of  the  Faith  is  there 
prescribed  for  you ;  and  within  those  limits  you  cannot 
well  go  wrong." 

The  second  Sermon  is  addressed  to  answer  the  objec- 
tion, "  But  this  Book,  for  which  you  claim  entire  perfec- 
tion and  absolute  supremacy,  is  inevitably  destined  to 
be  demolished  by  Natural  Science."  It  is  with  the 
supposed  conflict  between  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
and  the  discoveries  of  geological  science  that  the  Sermon 
deals.  The  teaching  of  a  masterly  Sermon  preached 
before  the  University  by  Dr.  Buckland  (a  great  scientific 
authority)  was  warmly  espoused  by  Burgon,  as  suffi- 
ciently solving  all  difficulties  of  this  kind.  After  the 
first  verse  of  Genesis,  which  simply  records  the  creation 
by  Almighty  Power  of  all  things  out  of  nothing,  a  lapse 
of  as  many  ages  as  the  geologist  may  require  may  be 
supposed,  in  entire  consistency  with  the  sacred  narrative, 
to  take  place.  At  the  close  of  this  long  period  of  ages, 
some  great  catastrophe  took  place  which  submerged  the 
earth,  and  wrapped  it  about  with  vapour,  causing  "  a 
dire  eclipse."  A  pipe  had  recently  broken  in  St.  Mary's 
Church  which  submerged  all  the  seats,  and  necessitated 
the  removal  of  the  University  Sermons  to  the  Cathedral, 
where  Burgon  was  then  preaching.  "  Shall  I  think  it  a 
matter  of  course  that  one  little  flaw  in  a  pipe  shall,  in  a 
second  of  time,  transform  the  orderly  well-compacted 
seats  of  a  goodly  church  to  one  unsightly  mass  of  shape- 
less and  disordered  ruin ;  and  shall  I  pretend  to  stand 
aghast  at  the  strangeness  of  a  similar  overthrow  of  this 


266  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Earth's  furniture  at  the  mere  fiat  of  the  Most  High  ?  " 
In  what  follows  of  Genesis  I.  after  verse  i, — the  account 
of  the  reconstitution  of  the  ruined  earth  out  of  the  chaos, 
and  its  furniture  for  the  abode  of  man, — the  days  are  to 
be  taken  as  literal  days,  as  the  reason  assigned  for  the 
sabbatical  rest  requires, — an  hypothesis  to  which  Burgon 
tenaciously  clung  to  the  latest  years  of  his  life,  when  he 
had  occasion  to  put  it  forth  afresh.  Without  at  all 
entering  into  the  discussion,  which  is  not  the  province  of 
the  Biographer,  it  may  just  be  said  that  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  the  theory  of  regarding  the  days  as 
long  periods  of  time  does  not  introduce  greater  difficul- 
ties than  it  removes. 

In  Sermons  III.  and  IV.  he  develops  his  Theory  of 
Inspiration,  explaining  and  vindicating  in  the  latter 
the  Plenary  Inspiration  of  every  part  of  the  Bible,  and 
pointing  out  that  the  possible  corruption  of  the  text  in 
some  passages  constitutes  no  valid  objection  against  the 
Inspiration  of  the  original  and  true  autograph  of  the 
Prophets  and  Apostles.  From  a  note  to  Sermon  III. 
[p.  83  k.]  it  appears  that  the  teaching  of  Sermon  II.  as 
to  the  method  of  reconciling  Genesis  and  Geology  had 
been,  on  the  Sunday  after  its  delivery,  "  directly  con- 
travened (it  does  not  appear  by  whom)  from  the 
University  Pulpit."  From  his  rejoinder  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  preacher,  who  had  contravened  his  teaching, 
had  indicated  that  Moral  Science  is,  no  less  than 
Physical  Science,  opposed  to  some  parts  of  the  plain 
teaching  of  the  Bible.  In  reply  he  points  out  that 
the  Moral  Sense  of  man  has,  in  virtue  of  the  Fall  become 
depraved,  as  the  first  Chapter  to  the  Romans  shows,  and 
that  a  depraved  Moral  Sense  -must  not  presume  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  the  consistency  of  God's  moral  attributes 
with  certain  Scriptural  precepts  to  certain  persons.  This, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      267 

however,  is  only  an  incident  in  the  Discourse.  It  is 
chiefly  occupied  with  apparent  discrepancies  in  the 
Gospels,  very  many  of  which  only  seem  to  require  for 
their  solution  the  knowledge  of  some  slight  circumstance 
which  would  bring  all  into  harmony.  Spite  of  "the 
dignity  of  the  pulpit "  (':  I  hate  the  very  phrase,  it  has 
been  made  too  often  the  cloak  of  dulness "),  this  is 
illustrated  by  the  supposition  of  a  trial  at  the  Antipodes, 
where  three  witnesses  depose  severally  on  oath  to  having 
seen  A.  B.  "standing  before  Carfax  Church,  while  the 
clock  wag  striking  one "  ;  "  passing  by  St.  Mary's,  when 
the  clock  of  that  Church  was  also  striking  one " ;  and 
on  the  steps  of  the  Cathedral,  when  the  Cathedral  clock 
was  striking  one,  the  apparently  discrepant  testimonies 
of  the  three  being  brought  into  harmony  by  the  fact, 
not  known  to  every  one,  that  "the  three  clocks  in 
question  were,  till  lately,  kept  five  minutes  apart." — In 
the  fourth  Sermon  the  doctrine  of  Verbal  Inspiration  is 
affirmed  with  all  that  uncompromising  strenuousness  of 
assertion  which  was  part  of  his  character  And  surely 
every  one,  on  calm  reflexion,  must  think  with  Burgon 
that,  if  Inspiration  is  to  avail  for  the  instruction  of 
mankind,  the  phraseology  in  which  the  sense  is  con- 
veyed, no  less  than  the  sense  itself,  must  be  subject  to 
its  control. 

"As  for  thoughts  being  inspired,  apart  from  the  words 
which  give  them  expression,  you  might  as  well  talk  of  a 
tune  without  notes,  or  a  sum  without  figures.  No  such 
dream  can  abide  the  daylight  for  a  moment." 

This  Sermon  is  followed  by  a  Supplement,  in  which  he 
deals  with  the  theory  that,  "  the  office  of  the  Bible  being 
merely  to  make  men  wise  unto  salvation,"  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  Inspiration  under  which  it  was  written 
must  have  secured  the  writers  "  against  slips  of  memory, 


268  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

inaccuracies  of  statement,  inconclusive  reasonings,  incor- 
rect quotations,  mistaken  inferences,  scientific  errors,"- 
a  view  which  he  admits  "  recommends  itself  occasionally 
to  candid,  and  even  to  reverential  minds."  He  requests 
any  favourer  of  this  theory  to  test  it  "  by  running  his 
pen  through  the  places  which  he  suspects  of  being- 
external  to  the  influence  of  Inspiration,"  and  ventures 
"to  predict  that  such  an  one  will  speedily  admit  that 
his  erasures  are  either  so  very  few,  or  so  very  many, 
as  to  be  fatal  to  the  theory '  of  which  they  are  the 
expression." 

In  Sermon  V.  he  passes  from  the  Inspiration  of  Holy 
Scripture  to  its  Interpretation.  The  great  point  here  is 
the  Holy  Ghost's  method  of  Interpretation,  as  applied 
to  His  own  foregone  utterances, — in  other  words, — the 
principles  which  govern  the  citations  made  in  the  New 
Testament  from  the  Old.  In  these  passages  GOD  has 
been  pleased  to  give  us  a  clue  to  the  interpretation  of 
His  own  Word.  This  method  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
when  we  study  it,  "  altogether  establishes  the  fact  that 
the  Bible  is  not  to  be  interpreted  like  any  other  Book"  the 
thesis  this  which  the  last  of  the  Essayists  and  Reviewers 
had  laboured  to  establish.  It  is  in  this  Sermon  that  the 
writer,  while  carefully  guarding  himself  against  impeach- 
ing the  historical  character  of  the  narratives  of  Holy 
Scripture,  opens  the  way  for  those  typical  and  allegorical 
interpretations  in  which  he  so  much  delighted.  Our  Lord 
Himself  says  that  "  Moses  wrote  of  me."  "  Shew  me  the 
places  in  the  Pentateuch,"  says  Burgon,  "which  prove 
that  CHRIST  was  'to  suffer  these  things,'  and  then  to 
'enter  into  glory.'  You  cannot  do  it;  unless  indeed 
you  admit  Isaac's  sacrifice,  the  indignities  done  to 
Joseph,  and  his  exaltation,  the  Paschal  Lamb,  the  wave- 
sheaf,  &c.,  &c.,  to  be  figures  of  Christ,  and  recorded,  as 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      269 

being  so,  'for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of 
the  world  are  come.'"  But  the  above  are  only  hints  as 
to  the  line  which  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  is  to 
take ;  there  are  many  other  types,  not  generally  recog- 
nised as  such,  which  we  shall  see  if  we  look  under  the 
surface.  Thus,  in  the  narrative  of  Joseph's  temptation, 

"  Potiphar's  wife  may,  (as  the  best  and  wisest  of  ancient 
and  modern  Divines  have  thought),  symbolize  the  Power 
of  Darkness  ;  and  Joseph  our  Divine  LORD.  The  garment 
Joseph  left  in  the  woman's  hand,  may  represent  that 
fleshly  garment  of  which  the  true  Joseph  divested  Him- 
self,— (axeubvtrdijLfvos,  as  St.  Paul  speaks  in  a  very 
remarkable  place,  which  certainly  means,  'having 
stripped  off  from  Himself,') — the  mortal  body-  which 
Satan  apprehended  (his  sole  triumph !),  and  by  which  he 
was  ensnared,  when  a  greater  than  Joseph  gat  him  out 
from  an  adulterous  world." 

There  is  a  grand  passage,  which  we  cannot  find  space 
for,  but  which  the  reader  should  certainly  consult 
[Serm.  V.  p.  1 76]  on  the  mystery  of  the  interview  be- 
tween Melchizedek  and  Abram,  bursting  into  view  in 
Psalm  ex.  just  midway  between  the  time  of  Abraham 
and  the  time  of  Christ. 

Sermon  VI.,  "  The  Doctrine  of  Arbitrary  Scriptural 
Accommodation  Considered,"  was  not  one  of  the  course 
which  he  was  called  upon  to  deliver  as  Select  Preacher, 
but  was  in  fact  his  first  University  Sermon,  preached  ten 
years  previously,  with  the  added  lights  which  the  ex- 
perience of  those  years  had  thrown  upon  it.  The  notion 
combated  in  it  is,  that  any  passage  of  foregone  Scripture 

3  It  would  seem   from  this  that  the  clause  which    is  given  in  the 

Burgon  (in  Col.  ii.  15)  accepted  the  margin   of   the    Revised   Version  : 

reading   r^v  aaptca   for   ras   apxas.  hating    put   off  from   himself  his 

Or  perhaps  he  took  the  words  "  his  body,  he  made  a  skoic  of  the  princi- 

body  "  to  be  understood  after  a-atit-  ftalities,  &c. 
Svaaptvos, — a  way  of  understanding 


270  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BVRGOX. 

has  been  by  any  New  Testament  writer  "  wrenched  away 
from  its  natural  bearing  and  intention  ;  and  made  to 
accommodate  itself, — and,  on  the  part  of  the  writer, 
quite  arbitrarily, — to  a  purpose,  with  which  it  has,  in 
reality,  no  manner  of  connexion."  The  passage  instanced 
in  is  Rom.  x.  5  to  10, — the  contrasted  utterances  of  "  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  the  law  "  and  "  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  of  faith," — in  which  St.  Paul  quotes  with 
some  notable  alteration,  and  with  what  may  be  called  a 
running  commentary,  Deut.  xxx.  1 1  to  15  ; — ''  as  fair  an 
example  as  could  be  desired  of  what  is  sometimes  called 
'Accommodation'.  .  .  I  know  not  an  instance  of  what, 
in  any  uninspired  writing,  I  should  have  been  myself  more 
inclined  to  stigmatize  as  such."  The  variation  of  St. 
Paul  from  Moses,  " Who  shall  go  clown  into  the  deep" 
instead  of  "  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea"  in  order  to  point 
the  application  to  the  descent  of  Christ  into  Hades,  is 
made  under  the  immediate  prompting  of  Inspiration, — 
it  is  God  "  calling  in  the  wealth  of  His  ancient  treasury, 
in  order  to  recoin  it,  that  He  may  more  enrich  us  there- 
by,"— God,  "  taking  His  ancient  speeches  back  into  His 
mouth,  in  order  that  He  may  syllable  them  anew,  making 
them  sweeter  than  honey  to  our  lips,  yea,  sweeter  than 
honey  and  the  honeycomb."  And  that  the  Christian 
application,  which  St.  Paul  makes  of  the  passage,  was 
intended  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  He  put  it  into  the 
pen  of  Moses,  he  gives  good  reasons  for  thinking, — one 
of  them  being  that  in  the  first  verse  of  the  twenty-ninth 
chapter  of  Deuteronomy  the  covenant,  among  "the 
words"  of  which  the  passage  is  found,  is  said  to  be  a 
distinct  covenant,  at  the  end  of  the  pilgrimage  of  Israel, 
"  beside  the  covenant  which  he  made  with  them  in 
Horeb"  at  the  beginning  of  it,  forty  years  ago.  This 
new  covenant  Bishop  Bull  takes  to  be  the  covenant  of 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      271 

Grace,  which  is  implicitly  and  darkly  preached  in  the 
passage  in  question  ;  and  Burgon  gives  other  reasons  for 
thinking  that  what  St.  Paul  finds  in  the  passage  of 
Moses  was  really  designed  by  the  Spirit  who  inspired 
Moses  to  write  it, — is  anything  but  an  arbitrary 
accommodation. — The  author  cannot  but  think  that, 
apart  from  interpretations  of  particular  passages,  the 
true  and  only  clue  of  sound  interpretation  has  been 
laid  hold  of,  by  the  direction  to  look  to  the  quotations 
made  from  the  Old  Testament  in  the  New,  and  to  con- 
sider what  guidance  and  light  may  be  discovered  in 
them.  The  difficulties  here,  as  in  the  Bible  itself,  begin 
with  the  beginning ;  for  the  prophecies,  of  which  St. 
Matthew  finds  a  fulfilment  in  our  Lord's  infancy  (St. 
Matt.  ii.  15,  17,  23),  are  surrounded  with  difficulties,  and 
offer  doubtless  to  him,  who  studies  them  with  devout 
docility,  numerous  bright  glimpses  into  the  Spirit's 
method  of  interpretation. 

The  last  Sermon  deals  with  the  subject  which  had 
been  discussed  by  the  third  Essayist,  the  actual  title  of 
whose  essay  was  "  On  the  Study  of  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity" ;  but,  as  Burgon  truly  says,  the  Essay  should 
rather  have  been  called,  "  The  Validity  of  THE  EVIDENCE 
FROM  MIRACLES  considered,  or  rather  denied."  The 
Sermon  considers  both  the  Moral  Marvels  of  Scripture 
(meaning,  the  perplexing  problems  which  certain  parts 
of  it  throw  out  to  the  moral  sense),  and  its  Physical 
Marvels,  that  is,  its  recorded  miracles.  Jael's  act  is 
selected  as  presenting  a  difficulty  of  the  former  class, 
and  is  elaborately  vindicated.  We  must  start  with  the 
assumption  that  her  act  was  moral,  because  "  God  pro- 
nounced her  blessed,  and  distinctly  commended  her  for 
her  deed,  and  no  action  can  be  immoral  which  GOD 
praises."  He  then  shows  how  under  the  peculiar  circum- 


272  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

stances,  and  from  Jael's  point  of  view,  the  act  was  jus- 
tifiable,—nay,  something  more.  "It  is  quite  evident 
that  each  fresh  oppressor  of  Israel  was  regarded,  in  the 
strictest  sense,  as  the  enemy  of  God;  and  that,  as  the 
enemy  of  the  LORD  God  of  Israel,  Sisera  was  summarily 
slain  by  the  Kenite's  wife."  As  regards  miracles — the 
"  physical  marvels  "  of  Holy  Scripture, — while  cordially 
admitting  that  "general  laws  of  inscrutable  Wisdom 
determined  each  case  of  miraculous  interposition,"  he 
repudiates  with  something  like  scorn  Mr.  Babbage's 
suggestion  that  a  miracle,  is  not  "  an  exception  to  those 
laws  which  we  know,  but  really  the  fulfilment  of  a 
wider  law  which  we  did  not  know  before  "  ;  shows  that 
the  paring  down  and  extenuating  the  supernatural 
element  in  a  miracle  is,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances, 
an  untenable  explanation ;  and  protests  with  his  usual 
warmth  (yet  not  too  warmly)  against  the  Ideology,  which 
recognises  in  the  miraculous  narratives  of  Scripture 
nothing  of  matter  of  fact,  but  only  the  allegorizing  of 
truths  of  weightiest  import. — The  Sermons  are  followed 
by  Appendices,  chiefly  confirmatory  of  his  own  view, 
from  the  works  of  Bishop  Horsley,  Bishop  Butler,  Bishop 
Bull,  Bishop  Pearson,  and  from  the  sermons  of  his  great 
friend  and  predecessor  in  the  Vicarage  of  St.  Mary's,  the 
Rev.  C.  P.  Eden,  a  memoir  of  whom  appears  in  '  The  Lives 
of  Twelve  Good  Men.' 

And  what  was  the  immediate  effect  upon  the  audience, 
the  reader  will  be  disposed  to  ask,  of  the  above  Ser- 
mons ?  Very  much  what  the  effect  was  of  inspired 
preaching  of  old,  and  what  will  always  be  the  effect 
of  faithful  preaching,  framed  on  the  model  of  the  inspired. 
"  The  multitude  of  the  city  was  divided " ;  "  some  be- 
lieved the  things  which  were  spoken,  and  some  believed 
not."  "  We  did  not  think  much  of  them  at  the  time," 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      273 

writes  one  who  was  then  an  undergraduate,  and  attended 
the  Sermons,  "many  of  the  passages  in  them  being 
grotesque.  It  was  said  that  an  undergraduate  of  Oriel 
who  had  great  influence  with  Burgon  begged  him  to 
change  his  tone.  The  last  sermon  or  sermons  were  very 
different  from  the  first."  No  doubt,  as  in  all  Burgon's 
sermons  and  addresses,  so  in  these  also,  there  is  a  certain 
style  foreign  to  the  ordinary  and  conventional  usage  of 
the  English  pulpit,  which  was  inseparable  from  the 
strong  and  marked  individuality  of  the  man ;  but  as  for 
any  grotesquenesses  which  could  present  a  serious  stum- 
bling-block except  to  minds  of  a  most  frivolous  order,  if 
there  were  such  in  the  delivery,  they  have  been  ex- 
punged previously  to  publication.  But  the  writer  has 
been  credibly  informed,  on  authority  which  he  cannot 
doubt,  that  the  theory  of  Scriptural  Inspiration  pro- 
pounded in  the  Fourth  Sermon  presented  a  grave  difficulty 
to  the  minds  of  some  thoughtful  and  religiously-minded 
hearers  among  the  undergraduates,  who  were  not  pre- 
pared for  the  alternative  which  seemed  to  be  incisively 
presented  to  them ; — Either  the  whole  Bible  is  inspired, 
"  the  words  as  well  as  the  sentences,  the  syllables  as 
,  well  as  the  words,  the  letters  as  well  as  the  syllables, 
every  '  jot '  and  every  '  tittle  '  of  it ; " — or  the  whole  of  it 
must  be  abandoned,  since  no  part  of  it  can  be  certainly 
depended  upon  as  an  infallible  guide.  To  this  the 
present  writer  can  only  say  that,  supposing  the  doctrine 
i tic n. leafed  to  be  a  true  one,  the  offence  given  thereby, 
however  much  it  is  to  be  regretted,  could  not  have  been 
avoided.  And  if  the  way  of  stating  the  truth  was  not 
(as  perhaps  it  may  not  have  been)  altogether  judicious, 
can  the  meaning  which  it  was  intended  to  convey  be 
seriously  questioned  by  devout  and  thoughtful  men  ? 
We  know  that  GOD  has  not  been  pleased  absolutely 

VOL.    I.  T 


274  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

to  secure  the  text  of  His  Holy  Scriptures  from  cor- 
ruption (by  carelessness  of  transcribers,  interpolations 
of  words  designed  only  as  marginal  explanations,  and 
so  forth)  ;  he  has  left  a  certain  amount  of  uncertainty 
here  and  there  on  the  ipsissima  verba  of  Prophets  and 
Apostles,  to  exercise  the  discrimination  of  those  of 
His  servants  who  have  leisure  and  skill  for  such 
studies,  as  also  for  the  trial  of  the  faith  of  His  child- 
ren in  general ;  but  supposing  us  to  be  in  undoubted 
possession  of  the  original  autographs  of  Moses,  Isaiah, 
the  Evangelists,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  should  we  be 
willing  to  admit  that  a  single  verse  or  word  of  the  text 
could  be  uninspired,  and  to  dispense  with  it  freely,  as 
being  immaterial,  in  our  vain  conceptions,  to  the  just 
expression  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  meaning?  Without 
being  at  all  prepared  to  assert  that  all  parts  of  Holy 
Scripture  are  equally  precious,  equally  vital,  or  have  an 
equally  deep  spiritual  import, — an  assertion  surely  which 
would  carry  its  own  refutation  on  the  face  of  it, — must 
we  not  maintain,  if  we  hold  Inspiration  at  all,  that 
as,  in  the  natural  body  of  man,  the  breath  of  life  is 
diffused  through  the  whole  frame  (resides  in  the  ex- 
tremities— in  the  hair  and  the  nails  as  well  as  in  the 
head  and  the  heart)  so  there  is  not  a  single  jot  or  tittle  of 
inspired  Scripture  which  has  not  God's  breath  in  it,  and 
which,  as  having  God's  breath  in  it,  has  not  some  function 
or  other  to  fulfil  in  the  design  of  His  inscrutable  wisdom, 
though  we  may  not  always  know  or  be  able  to  discern 
what  that  design  is  ?  If  this  image  conveys  a  real  truth, 
no  part  of  the  Bible,  however  apparently  insignificant 
to  us, — not  even  the  catalogue  of  the  Dukes  of  Edom, 
or  the  long  string  of  names  of  persons,  of  whom  it  is 
given  us  to  know  nothing  but  the  names,  as  in  Rom. 
xvi, — could  be  dispensed  with  without  a  real  loss. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      275 

But  there  were  other  hearers  of  Burgon's  famous 
Seven  Sermons,  who  were  neither  moved  to  levity  by 
his  "grotesque  passages,"  nor  offended  and  scandalized 
by  his  making  the  Inspiration  of  the  Inspired  Writers 
cover  (as  they  considered)  too  wide  a  field.  Here  is 
the  testimony  of  one  of  them,  taken  from  a  communiquee 
to  the  Record  newspaper  of  August  17,  1888.  The 
initials  appended  at  the  end  of  the  paper  are  C.  H.  W. 
The  author  thinks  it  best  to  let  it  stand  alone,  without  a 
word  of  comment  except  this,  that  it  is  in  the  highest 
degree  unlikely  that  C.  H.  W.  stood  alone  in  the  im- 
pressions which  he  carried  away  from  Burgon's  ministry. 
Indeed  if  the  reader  will  refer  to  the  interesting  paper 
by  the  Rev.  R.  G.  Livingstone  given  in  a  later  Section, 
in  the  early  part  of  which  he  gives  an  account  of 
Burgon's  Bible  Readings  with  the  undergraduates  in 
his  rooms  at  Oriel,  he  will  see  that  Mr.  Livingstone 
had  imbibed  from  the  Bible  Readings  very  similar  im- 
pressions to  those  which  "  C.  H.  W."  derived  from  the 
Seven  Sermons  ; — "  It  was  nothing  short  of  a  revelation 
to  me  to  discover  that  the  study  of  the  Bible  could  be 
made  so  full  of  interest  and  brightness — so  attractive,  as 
he  made  it." 

PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THE  LATE 
DEAN  BUEGON. 

[From  the  Record  newspaper  of  August  17,  1888.] 

"  From  first  to  last,  all  my  reminiscences  of  Dean 
Burgon  are  bound  up  with  the  Bible,  treated  as  few 
teachers  of  divinity  now  appear  to  regard  it,  as  God's 
word  written ;  '  absolute,  faultless,  unerring,  supreme.' 
Some  report  of  his  being  an  interesting  preacher  drew 
me  to  the  Cathedral  at  Oxford,  one  Sunday  afternoon  in 
the  October  Term  of  (I  think)  1860,  but  I  have  no 

T  a 


276  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

means  at  hand  of  verifying  the  exact  date.  I  went  to 
hear  the  University  Sermon,  which  he  was  appointed 
to  preach.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  first  of  '  Seven 
Sermons  on  the  Inspiration  and  Interpretation  of  Holy 
Scripture,'  delivered  in  answer  to  Essays  a>/d  Reviews. 
There  was  but  a  small  congregation  to  listen  to  this 
first  sermon.  The  hearers  increased  as  the  series  con- 
tinued. But  those  who  went  from  the  beginning  were 
well  repaid.  I  can  never  forget  what  I  heard  that 
afternoon.  It  all  comes  back  to  me  whenever  I  come 
across  the  text,  '  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast 
the  words  of  eternal  life.'  'The  study  of  the  Bible 
recommended,  and  a  method  of  studying  it  prescribed,' 
is  the  title  of  the  sermon,  which  was  specially  addressed 
to  undergraduates.  The  title  gives  a  very  fair  account 
of  the  contents ;  but  no  words  that  I  can  put  together 
will  describe  what  I  myself  gained  that  afternoon. 
In  regard  to  Scripture,  I  acquired  the  rudiments  of  a 
fresh  sense.  I  knew  much  of  the  text  of  the  Bible 
already,  I  read  it  as  a  habit,  loved  it,  admired  it,  and 
had  learned  much  of  it  by  heart.  But  I  had  never 
learned  to  look  at  the  Bible  as  the  preacher  that  day 
did.  I  went  away  with  the  feeling  that  I  had  just  been 
presented  with  a  new  book,  and  must  set  to  work  to 
study  it  from  the  beginning,  as  though  I  had  never  seen 
it  before.  I  began  to  do  so,  in  the  kind  of  way  that 
was  then  suggested,  and  I  have  gone  on  ever  since. 
The  Bible  has  never  ceased  to  be  what  it  then  became, 
a  mine  of  hid  treasure.  And  there  is  just  as  much  to  be 
learned  still  as  there  was  at  first.  In  fact,  there  seems 
to  be  much  more.  I  cannot  describe  what  happened 
that  day  in  any  better  words  than  those  which  I  first 
employed  to  describe  it : — '  Thy  words  were  found,  and 
I  did  eat  them ;  and  Thy  word  was  unto  me  the  joy  and 
rejoicing  of  my  heart.' 

"From  that  time  I  began  to  take  opportunities  of 
attending  St.  Mary's  when  Burgon  was  there.  Of  course 
I  heard  the  rest  of  the  seven  Sermons.  Some  of  the  texts 
made  scarcely  less  impression  upon  me  than  the  first 
had  done.  '  Do  ye  not  therefore  err  because  ye  know 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      277 

not  the  Scriptures,  neither  the  power  of  God  ? '  was  one 
of  them.  How  often  have  I  verified  the  fact  that  ignor- 
ance or  disregard  of  Scripture  is  at  the  root  of  erroneous 
teaching!  And  what  a  source  of  strength  the  discovery 
of  this  fact  has  been  ! — Again,  '  Through  faith  we  under- 
stand that  the  worlds  were  made  by  the  word  of  God/ 
handled  as  Burgon  handled  it,  was  the  beginning  of 
another  lesson  of  almost  equal  worth.  I  learned  that 
for  the  understanding  of  the  early  chapters  of  Genesis 
it  is  not  science  or  literary  criticism  that  is  demanded, 
but  implicit  faith  in  the  record  of  creation  to  begin  with, 
and  then  careful  observation  of  what  is  written.  I  see  now 
that  not  only  is  there  no  contradiction  between  Genesis 
and  geology,  but  that  the  two  do  not  even  cross  each 

other's  paths Few  men  ever  search  the  Scriptures 

as  Burgon  did,  or  can  tell  others  how  to  search  them. 
Hardly  any  one  believes  the  Bible  in  the  same  way.  A 
very  little  work  done  in  his  style  carries  one  quite  out- 
side the  common  horizon  of  criticism  and  exegesis.  But 
it  almost  demands  Burgon's  talent  for  homely  exposition 
and  vivid  illustration,  to  bring  the  knowledge  obtained 
by  his  method  before  the  ordinary  sight.  I  would  rather 
have  heard  him  read  the  two  lessons  in  the  Sunday 
service  than  listen  to  any  preacher  I  have  ever  heard, 
except  (perhaps)  himself.  From  his  sermon  on  some 
Scripture  scene  or  character  I  should  learn  more  than 
from  any  other  source  of  information  upon  earth.  With- 
out wishing  to  say  anything  disparaging  of  others,  there 
is  to  my  mind  the  same  sort  of  difference  between 
Burgon's  treatment  of  sacred  history  in  matters  of  detail 
and  what  one  commonly  hears,  as  there  is  between 
a  street  boy's  chalk  scribble  on  a  door  or  paling  and 
a  drawing  of  some  sacred  subject  by  Mr.  Frederick 
Thrupp.  It  is  not  so  much  that  what  one  commonly 
hears  is  inaccurate  and  wrong — though  too  often  it  is 
both — as  that  hardly  any  one  seems  to  see  that  strict 
taste  and  perfect  accuracy  are  required  for  the  treatment 
of  Scripture  scenes  and  characters.  The  saints  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  never  complain.  If  living 
men  are  caricatured  or  misrepresented,  they  can  remon- 


278  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

strate,  and  perhaps  write  to  the  newspapers  ;  but  Moses 
and  Elias,  Samson  and  David,  St.  Peter  and  St.  John 
keep  silence,  and  let  men  take  what  liberties  they  will. 

"  Dean  Burgon  never  took  liberties.  He  was  as  careful 
of  the  honour  and  reputation  of  a  character  in  Holy 
Scripture  as  of  his  dearest  living  friends.  I  once  heard 
him  read  the  description  of  Rizpah's  care  for  her  dead 
children,  from  the  Sunday  lesson  in  the  Second  Book  of 
Samuel.  It  was  a  thing  never  to  be  forgotten.  As  one 
said  who  was  present,  'he  read  it  as  though  she  had 
been  his  own  sister ! '  and  so  it  was  throughout.  But 
his  choicest  theme  was  the  Gospels.  These  were  his 
favourite  study.  Here  he  was  accustomed,  as  he  said 
himself,  to  '  weigh  every  word  in  hair  scales.'  And  what 
unsuspected  beauties  did  he  bring  to  light !  How  many 
passages  there  recall  him  to  memory  !  The  story  of  our 
Lord's  temptation  in  St.  Matthew,  the  harmonizing  of 
what  is  told  us  of  the  healing  of  the  centurion's  servant, 
or  of  the  blind  men  at  Jericho  ;  the  record  of  Pilate's 
indecision,  and  the  title  on  the  Cross ;  the  incidents  of 
Easter  morning,  and  of  that  third  appearance  of  our 
Saviour  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias ;  not  to  mention  the  text 
containing  that  solemn  question,  'What  shall  it  profit 
a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own 
soul?' — all  these  are  inseparably  associated  with  his 
memory  in  my  own  mind ;  some  of  them,  I  doubt  not,  in 
the  minds  of  many.  "We  were  to  have  had  the  text 
of  the  Gospels,  and  their  harmony,  from  his  pen  before 
this.  It  was  all  but  finished,  and  was  promised  years 
ago.  But  who  is  there  to  finish  it,  and  who  can  gather 
up  the  thousand  threads  of  loving  reverential  knowledge, 
that  have  fallen  from  his  grasp  ? 

"Dean  Burgon  was  above  all  things  else  a  Bible 
student  and  a  man  of  God.  He  never  failed  to  impress 
upon  us  St.  Paul's  lesson,  that  to  'speak  with  the 
tongues  of  men  and  angels,'  to  '  understand  all  mysteries 
in  Scripture,'  was  nothing  without  life  and  love.  His 
personal  appeals  to  the  conscience  were  always  most 
heart-searching  and  solemn.  He  believed  what  he 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      279 

taught.  From  his  intense  belief  in  Holy  Scripture  1 
have  often  rekindled  my  own.  I  never  left  him  without 
feeling  stimulated  and  reproved.  To  his  teaching,  under 
God,  I  owe  all  I  know  of  divinity.  Outside  of  Holy 
Scripture  I  know  nothing.  But  for  him,  I  should  never 
have  known  the  Bible  apart  from  commentaries.  Since 
he  entered  into  rest,  my  thoughts  have  constantly  tried 
to  follow  him  into  the  Paradise  of  which  he  spoke  with 
such  reverential  and  humble  insight.  And  my  desires 
have  been  chiefly  set  upon  two  things.  I  cannot  but 
believe  that  all  the  best  and  noblest  souls  among  the 
saints  of  old  must  have  risen  up  to  greet  him,  and  to 
take  part  in  the  welcome  given  him  by  '  the  Lord  of  the 
dead  and  living.'  I  wish  I  could  have  heard  what  they 
said  to  him,  and  seen  how  they  received  him  there. 
I  doubt  whether  there  has  been  such  a  reception  for 
many  a  day.  And  next  I  have  wished  that  I  could  ask 
him  one  question  :  '  What  do  you  think  now  of  all  you 
taught  us  about  Holy  Scripture  ?  Do  you  still  see  it  in 
the  same  light,  or  are  the  men  of  this  generation  at  all 
right  in  supposing  that  there  is  in  the  Bible  a  certain 
admixture  of  dross  and  error,  from  which  we  must  by 
our  critical  faculties  eliminate  and  sift  out  the  truth  ? ' 
To  this  question  I  have  received  an  answer.  I  have  no 
doubt  of  it  at  all,  and  it  is  this:  'I  have  given  unto 
them  the  words  which  Thou  gavest  me  (p^/xara,  words 
spoken  before  they  were  given),  and  they  have  received 
them,  and  have  known  surely  that  1  came  out  from 
Thee,  and  they  have  believed  that  Thou  didst  send  me. 
I  pray  for  them.'  It  is  enough.  There  is  nothing  to 
alter  in  this  view  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  the  man  of 
God  taught  us.  It  is  the  very  same  message  that  I  first 
heard  from  his  lips :  '  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  the  words  (pj^ara)  of  eternal  life/  It  may  be  that 
men  will  count  us  fools  for  thinking  so ;  but  let  me  be 
a  fool  with  Burgon,  if  it  be  so,  and  let  the  wise  men 
of  this  generation  say  what  they  please.  It  will  all 
come  right  hereafter,  and  we  have  not  long  to  wait.  As 
he  said  himself,  'Be  patient,  O  my  soul,  until  the  day 
break,  and  the  shadows  flee  away.'  " 


280  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

To  MRS.  HUGH  JAMES  ROSE. 

"H.  Conquest,  Sept.  16,  1853. 

"My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, — I  cannot  forget  what  to- 
morrow is3  ;  and  if  I  could  suppose  that  you  could 
yourself  forget,  I  would  not  write  to  convey  to  you 
one  of  the  melancholy  thoughts  which  the  anniversary 
ever  brings  to  me.  But  your  faithful  heart  will  have 
felt  the  shadow,  which  day  by  day  deepens  for  you  at 
this  sad  time :  and  if  I  cannot  (as  I  know  I  cannot)  even 
help  to  dispel  it,  I  can  at  least  convince  you  that  my 
thoughts  are  with  you.  And  this  may  be  a  small 
comfort  in  its  way.  Indeed  all  here  remember  the  anni- 
versary ;  and  have  already  feelingly  alluded  to  it. 

"  The  blow  seemed  full  of  wrath ;  but  you  have  been 
spared  to  see  that  there  was  mercy  in  it.  Or  if  you 
have  not  seen  much,  your  faith  may  at  least  suggest 
some  very  bright  and  comfortable  reflexions.  1  will  not, 
for  I  need  not,  particularly  explain  what  I  mean.  I  will 
content  myself  instead  with  inviting  you  to  read  atten- 
tively a  portion  of  Scripture,  on  which  I  have  been  com- 
menting for  the  last  few  days,  namely,  St.  Matthew  xxv. 
You  may  also,  if  you  please,  read  in  connexion  with  it, 
St.  Luke  xix.  i  to  27.  I  gave  twelve  hours  yesterday  to 
the  Commentary,  and  still  feel  very  full  of  the  thoughts, 
which  the  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  especially  suggested, 
and  which  seem  to  me  not  inapplicable  to  yourself. 
Pray  observe  the  concluding  verses  of  it,  from  verse  31 
to  the  end.  It  seems  to  me  like  the  solemn  commentary 
of  the  Spirit  on  the  two  parables  which  precede  4.  .  .  . 
And  with  this  remark  I  shall  dismiss  the  subject. 

"  Let  me  earnestly  request  that  you  will  not,  by  any 
undue  abstinence,  distress  yourself,  and  impair  the  spring 

s  Sept.  17  was  the  anniversary  of  xxv.  30.  The  "  passage  which  ends 

Josephine  Hair's  death,  which  he  the  chapter  "  (what  is  usually  called 

had  already  adverted  to  in  an  earlier  the  Parable  of  the  Sheep  and  Goats) 

letter  to  Mrs.  Hugh  James  Rose.  "  may  be  considered,  in  some  sort,  as 

See  above,  p.  161,  and  footnote.  the  solemn  Commentary  of  the  Spirit 

4  These  very  words  occur  in  his  on  the  two  parables  which  precede." 
1  Plain  Commentary  *  on  St.  Matt. 


7 HE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      281 

of  your  mind,  when  these  sad  days  come  round.  Nor 
yet  feel  regardless  of  things  present,  and  suffer  yourself 
to  grow  weary  of  the  sun.  Rather  let  me  affectionately 
implore  you  to  catch  eagerly  at  every  little  blessing, 
which  Almighty  Love  throws  in  your  way ;  and  be 
happy — knowing  that  God  wills  nothing  less  than  the 
happiness  of  His  creatures,  in  time  and  in  eternity. 
^••e  how,  this  year,  a  Sunday  follows  your  day  of 
heaviness.  Is  it  not  a  blessed  earnest  that,  though 
'  heaviness  may  endure  for  a  night,  yet  joy  cometh  in 
the  morning  ? ' 

"  My  dearest  Mrs.  Rose, 

"  Your  affectionate, 

"J.  W.  B." 

FROM  THE  REVEREND  J.  \V.  BURGON  TO  THE  RIGHT 
HON.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE,  M.P. 

"  Oriel,  Feb.  27  [1854]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Gladstone, — I  am  much  struck  with 
your  kindness — overwhelmed  with  work  as  you  must 
be — in  finding  time  to  write  me  so  long  a  letter.  My 
first  impulse  was,  not  to  trouble  you  with  any  reply : 
but  besides  wishing  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness,  I 
desire  to  say  what  occurs  to  me  as  often  as  I  advert  to 
the  letter  I  received  from  you  on  Friday.  The  few 
words  which  follow  are  not  committed  to  paper,  believe 
me,  with  the  remotest  desire  of  provoking  rejoinder. 
You  will  have  read  them,  and  I  shall  be  content. 

•  You  speak  of  //>-  L'n'i'->-f*ity.  as  if  [it]  had  an  existence 
apart  from  the  Colleges.  Not  only  however  is  this  not  the 
case  actually, — but  even  1tixtf>r'vn1ly  I  find  no  traces  of  the 
circumstance  either.  At  all  events,  why  the  separate 
'•xi>u-nce  and  distinct  operation  of  the  University  is  now 
to  be  fostered  and  developed  I  must  (very  humbly) 
profess  myself  unable  to  perceive. — Neither  can  I 
acquiesce  in  the  supposition  that  the  religious  character 
which  ei-t-ry  founder  stamped  on  every  College  in  Oxford 
is  an  indication  that  the  University  (supposing  it  to  have 


282  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

had  a  distinct,  independent  existence)  bore  a  different 
impress. 

"  Let  it  be  supposed  however  that  this  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  And  let  it  be  granted  that  you  are  a  far  better 
judge  of  the  matter  than  myself.  What  appears  to  be 
the  simple  fact, — Government  is  about  to  take  steps  with 
regard  to  this  ancient  seat  of  piety  and  learning  which 
will  amount  to  nothing  less  than  a  revolution.  Respon- 
sible, the  Government  is  not  to  any  earthly  power.  The 
country  at  large  is  indifferent  as  to  what  they  do  in  this 
regard.  Fathers  who  have  smarted  for  their  sons'  ex- 
travagance at  College  will  applaud  anything  which  looks 
like  a  measure  of  retaliation;  while  the  sons  (who  are 
sure  to  impute  to  the  University  the  faults  which  were 
all  their  own), — they  also  will  look  on  and  rejoice. — Was 
there  ever  a  measure  proposed,  having  a  manifest  ten- 
dency to  weaken  the  Church, — to  cripple  one  of  her 
healthiest  limbs, — to  divert  into  other  channels  the 
revenues  which  are  directly  or  indirectly  hers, — and  to 
promote  secular  at  the  expense  of  sacred  learning ;  was 
ever  such  a  measure  proposed  without  winning  support 
and  favour  from  the  world  at  large, — whether  within  or 
without  the  House  of  Commons  ? 

"No  less  as  a  Christian  statesman,  therefore,  than  as  a 
faithful  son  of  Oxford,  I  will  but  implore  Mr.  Gladstone 
to  keep  himself  (if  possible)  unbiassed  as  well  by  the 
animosity  of  those  who  hate  us,  as  by  the  conflicting 
views  and  wishes  of  our  almost  as  dangerous  professing 
friends.  I  will  make  bold  to  remind  him  that  the  truth 
is  not  of  necessity  on  the  side  of  those  who  are  most 
clamorous  for  change: — that  these  Institutions  have  worked 
well  hitherto — are  working  well  now — will  work  better 
and  better  every  year,  if  let  alone  : — that  the  world  grows 
stronger  daily,  and  that  this  is  no  time  for  dismantling 
those  fortresses  where  the  Church  has  ever  nursed  her 
warriors,  and  whither  she  has  never  turned  in  vain  for  a 
champion  in  her  hour  of  need. 

"  This  visible  framework  of  things  is  indeed  passing 
fast  away;  and  it  is  no  figure  of  speech  which  you 
employ,  but  a  sober  reality,  when  you  speak  of  hereafter 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      283 

looking  Founders  in  the  face.  They  did  their  work  nobly, 
and  have  long  since  gone  to  their  reward.  Do  not  you 
suffer  others  to  mar  their  holy  work  !  Let  me  cling  to 
the  hope  that  while  you  assist,  and  in  some  degree  direct 
the  counsels  of  Government,  so  great  an  injury  as  I 
apprehend  will  never  befall  these  ancient  institutions. 
Do  not  you,  dear  Sir.  I  beseech  you,  consent  to  a  measure, 
the  tendency  of  which  may  directly  or  indirectly  be, 
to  promote  the  encroachments  of  the  world  upon  the 
Church,  and  to  weaken  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world. 
Forgive  my  great  boldness :  but  this  matter  lies  far 
nearer  to  my  heart  than  you  would  suppose.  I  am 
ever,  with  sincere  regard  and  admiration,  my  dear  Mr. 
Gladstone, 

"  Your  obliged  and  most  faithful  servant, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"5,  Burton  Crescent,  July  19,  1854. 

"  My  dear  affectionate  Old  Man, —  .  .  . 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  my  dearest  mother  both  has 
been,  and  continues  to  be,  very  poorly  indeed.  I  feel 
very  heavy  on  the  subject.  The  rest  of  my  beloved 
circle  are  tolerably  well — remember  you  with  affection — 
and  send  you  a  very  kind  message  indeed. 

"  Oxford,  I  fear,  has  seen  her  best  days.  Her  sun  has 
set  and  for  ever.  She  never  more  can  be  what  she  has 
been, — the  great  nursery  of  the  Church.  She  will  be- 
come a  cage  of  unclean  beasts  at  last.  Of  course  we 
shall  not  live  to  see  it;  but  our  great  grandc/ti/ilrcn  will: 
and  the  Church,  (and  Oxford  itself)  will  rue  the  day 
when  its  liberties  and  its  birthright  were  lost  by  a 
licentious  vote  of  a  no  longer  Christian  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

"  The  mischief  will  quickly  show  itself  in  some  small 
respects.  The  Dissenters,  who  now  talk  like  injured 
men  for  being  excluded  from  the  walls  of  the  University 
(which  is  no  injury  at  all),  will  soon  be  heard  to  com- 
plain that  they  have  not  equal  rights  with  ourselves. 


284  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

They  will  discover  that  they  have  a  conscience,  and 
cannot  attend  chapel  or  divinity  lectures.  .  .  .  They  will 
claim  (and  obtain)  the  right  of  proceeding  to  M.A.  and 
holding  fellowships.  THE  END  will  be  the  driving  out 
the  Church  from  what  has  hitherto  been  her  fortress5  : 
and  she  will  have  to  build  herself  little  strongholds  else- 
where. ...  It  is  one  of  our  many  national  steps  in  a 
downward  direction ;  one  of  our  many  abandonments  of 
a  great  principle  ;  one  of  the  many  preliminary  measures 
to  the  severance  of  Church  and  State ;  one  of  the  many 
approaches  to  a  state  of  national  irreligion ;  one  of  the 
many  beginnings  of  the  end,  which  mark  the  slow  but  sure 
advent  of  the  latter  days. 

"  You  have  asked  for  my  opinion,  my  dear  friend ;  and 
I  give  it  you  freely  and  fully :  very  grieved  to  have  to 
give  such  an  opinion ; — very  sorry  to  have  to  draw  so 
gloomy  a  picture  concerning  the  future  destiny  of  the 
place  we  both  love  so  well. 

"  In  the  meantime,  it  is  our  joy  to  think  that  while 
the  nation  sins  thus  heavily — or,  to  say  the  least,  errs  so 
grievously, — every  individual  may  advance  in  holiness 
and  virtue,  and  serve  GOD  acceptably,  however  humbly, 
in  his  generation,  and  stand  erect  in  his  place  in  the 
latter  days. 

"  May  we  be  found, — we  and  all  we  love  best — where 
the  good  and  great  of  all  ages  will  be,  for  CHRIST'S  sake ! 

"Remember  me  most  kindly  to  your  dear  wife,  and 
believe  me, 

"  Ever,  my  dearest  Old  Man, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"J.  W.  B." 


To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"  5,  Burton  Crescent,  London,  Dec.  21, 1855. 
"  My  dearest  Hensley.— I  cannot  explain  to  myself, 
and  therefore  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  explain  to  you, 

5  All  these  prognostications  were       Universities   Tests    Act    seventeen 
fully  realised  at  the  passing  of  the       years  later  in  1871. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      285 

how  it  should  happen  that  letters,  which  give  me  such 
lively  pleasure  as  yours  always  do,  should  accumulate 
upon  me  unanswered.  Had  you  me  under  you,  however, 
a  rapier  in  your  right  hand,  and  a  bludgeon  in  your  left ; 
a  pistol  in  each  pocket,  spurs  at  your  heels  and  a  crow- 
bar between  your  teeth,  Mrs.  Hensley  beside  you  with 
needles,  a  bodkin,  and  a  toasting  fork — I  say,  did  I  be- 
hold punishment  in  so  many  shapes  awaiting  me,  I 
should  falter  out  that  the  only  cause  has  been  because  I 
have  felt  that  any  day  I  could  write  ;  and  because  I  have 
always  determined  that  the  day  should  be  to-morrow,  a 
day  which,  as  you  are  aware,  never  comes. 

'•  The  penny  post  has  many  advantages  doubtless ;  but 
I  am  sure  its  counterbalancing  evils  are  of  a  very  serious 
nature.  Among  the  chiefest  I  reckon  this,  that  one 
seldom  or  never  writes  letters  as  the  men  of  the  century 
beginning  1725  and  ending  1825  wrote  them, — letters  of 
private  friendship,  written  for  friendship's  sake; — note* 
one  writes — true :  but  letters  seldom,  if  ever.  Every 
post  brings  in  its  half-dozen  sundry  appeals,  which  will 
have  the  best  end  of  an  hour  in  the  reading,  replying, 
and  rending.  Thus  one's  time  for  correspondence  gets 
flittered  away,  and  the  full  tide  of  ink  becomes  dispersed 
in  a  hundred  imperceptible  channels.  It  seems  to  me  as 
if  I  never  wrote  a  pleasant  letter  to  a  friend. 

"  Thank  you,  dearest  fellow,  for  your  many  affectionate 
little  letters,  which  give  me  so  many  agreeable  peeps  at 
a  domestic  fireside,  a  gentle  wife,  and  (I  like  to  think)  a 
well  cared  for  parish.  All  your  little  doings  interest  me, 
— will  always  interest  me,  as  much  as  you  can  desire  or 
design :  and  I  ever  cherish  the  hope  of  spending  some 
few  days  with  you, — where  I  may  learn  by  heart  the 
lesson  I  already  know  by  rote  ;  namely,  the  name  and 
nature  of  your  whereabouts.  Whenever  my  sisters  see 
me  looking  a  little  fagged  or  thin,  I  am  commonly  asked 
why  I  do  not  pack  up  my  traps,  and  go  down  to  see 
Alfred  Hensley  —  'who  always  invites  you  so  affec- 
tionately,' &c.  My  own  history,  dear  friend,  has  been 


286  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

a  most  monotonous  one  since  you  saw  me.  My  Com- 
mentary and  Sermons  finished,  before  turning  to  any- 
thing biographical,  I  have  been  engaged  on  an  antiquarian 
matter, — a  brief  memoir  of  the  Colleges  of  Oxford.  En/hf 
1  have  written,  and  four  have  been  published.  The  rest 
will  appear  before  June.  But  it  is  an  expensive  work — 
(only  one  copy  given  me  I) — and  you  must  not  buy  it. 
The  last  number  will  be  Worcester.  That  you  may  get, 
if  you  like,  and  make  Spiers  happy.  (Think  of  Spiers 
turning  publisher  !)  But  I  long  to  get  this  off  my  hands, 
and  turn  to  the  life  of  my  dear  friend  Tytler.  From 
that  I  go  on  to  Routh,  and  then,  if  I  live,  to  my  Har- 
mony. In  the  meantime,  my  prints  are  published  this 
day  by  Hering,  and  I  hope  he  will  make  them  answer. 
(I  need  hardly  say  that  these  things  are  all  the  Pub- 
lisher's, not  mine.')  Thus  have  I  rattled  on,  and  covered 
two  sheets,  and  you  would  scarcely  believe  that  I  write 
with  an  aching  heart,  full  of  affecting  recollections,  which 
this  festive  (not  joyous)  season  brings  thick  upon  me. 

"  But  I  will  not  write  sadly  to  the  man  I  love  at  such 
a  time.  He  will  wish  to  know  that  I  am  with  my  father, 
sister,  and  brother  ;  that  I  go  hence  (on  New  Year's  Day) 
to  Turvey  Abbey ;  and  thence  to  Houghton ;  returning 
to  Oriel  by  the  i9th  January  :  but  if  he  desires  to  picture 
me  truly,  he  must  picture  one  whose  heart  seems  buried, 
and  who  tries  to  live  in  the  future  in  vain.  The  year 
1854  earned  away  with  it  what  gave  life  its  sweetness 
and  its  charm 6, — charm  and  sweetness  unknown — or  at 
least  unappreciated — until  they  were  removed. 

"  God  bless  and  keep  you  and  your  dear  wife,  dearest 
Hensley.     Remember  me  affectionately  to  her,  I  beg.     Be 
sure  and  spend  a  night   at   Oxford — going  or  coming. 
When  I  give  you  a  cold  welcome,  then  forget 
"  Your  loving  friend, 

"J.  W.  BURGON." 


*  He  means  his  mother,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  died  Sept.  7,  1854. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      287 

To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENS  LEY. 

"Oriel,  Nov.  8,  1856. 
"  My  dearest  Old  Man,— 

"  I  am  very  well  thank  you,  dearest  fellow :  that  is  to 
say.  I  have  nothing  in  particular  in  the  way  of  health  to 
complain  of.  Strong  I  cannot  say  I  do  feel ;  but  I  do 
not  ail  in  any  way — except,  alas,  SPIRITUALLY. 

"What  vexes  me  most  is  the  utter  inability  I  ex- 
perience TO  DO  anything.  I  am  seldom,  if  ever,  inactive: 
yet  the  impertinences  of  daily  life  fill  up  the  day; — 
and  the  residuum  is  a  sleepy  head  and  weary  limbs. 
And  yet.  by  a  strange  perversity,  my  plans  thicken 
and  multiply  with  my  inability  to  carry  them  into 
execution. 

"  Thus — though  I  have  smarted  considerably  under 
the  mortification  of  not  being  able  to  open  my  box  of 
Ti/flt'r  papers  since  the  Long,  I  have  actually  begun 
collecting  materials  (traditional,  of  course,  chiefly)  of 
Dr.  Routh !  .  .  .  that  will  form  an  amusing  memoir,  I  do 
believe — 


"  Now  I  take  it  for  granted  that  Dadfla  never  thinks 
of  going  into  the  nursery,  even  of  a  rainy  day;  that 
week  after  week  passes,  and  he  is  quite  content  with 
a  report  from  the  nuss,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  ...  Or  does  the 
old  man  pass  whole  hours  with  the  little  duck  in  his 
arms? 

"  The  weather  with  us  is  cold  and  cheerless.  Penarran 
itself  must  be  looking  queer — and  the  roads  must  have 
regained  their  wintry  character. — Well,  every  season  has 
its  charm  :  and — in  tits  si  bene — as  the  inscription  runs 
on  the  monument  in  Houghton  Church — it  matters  little 
what  weather  is  without.  The  sense  of  God's  love  and 
support  is  the  intuJt,  remember,  not  the  image  of  the 
passing  cloud — now,  all  the  changes  and  chances  of  this 
mortal  life  are  passing  things !  .  .  .  My  kindest  regards  at 


288  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

the  Moat :   love  to  your  sister :   kiss  to  baby :   and  all 
that  is  affectionate  to  yourself,  from 

"  Dearest  Old  Man, 

"  Your  loving 

«J.  B." 


To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"Oriel,  March  17,  1857. 
"  My  dearest  Friend, — 

"  Pray  give 7  a  special  kiss  for  me,  and  tell  her 

that  her  mark  is  the  first  cross  thing  I  ever  saw  her  do— 
and  that  I  am  persuaded,  when  I  think  of  her  dear 
parents,  that  it  will  be  the  last ! 

"  I  daresay  you  will  like  the  chair 8  on  the  whole 

Everything  of  that  kind  looks  rubbishy  in  a  dirty  shop. 
When  the  chair  gets  worn,  and  is  in  the  good  company 
of  your  fireside,  it  will  improve,  I  am  persuaded. 

"  Nothing  shall  prevent  me  (D.V.)  from  reposing  in  it 
this  summer,  as  you  so  affectionately  propose. — I  quite 
long  to  see  the  Brithyn  again — (how  it  seems  but 
yesterday  since  I  looked  on  them  last)  and  to  hear  the 
Mule  prattling  along, — and  to  pace,  with  you,  the  short 
walk  between  the  yew  trees 9 ! 

7  A  grotesque  name  for  Mr.  Hens-  And  roved  the  mountain- valley  near 

ley's  young  child,  who,  being  unable  thy  home, 

to  write,  had  put   a  cross  against  Dear  Hensley  ? 

that  clause  o  f  the  letter  in  which  she  Meanwhile  the  Mule  went  sparkling 

sent  her  love  to  Burgon.  on  its  way 

*  Burgon  had  been  commissioned  Beside  us,  babbling,  bubbling.  And 

by  his   friend  to  purchase  a  chair  you  said, — 

for  him  in  Oxford,  which,  in  send-  '  The  Mule   comes  trickling  down 

ing  it  off  to  him,  he  describes  at  from  yonder  hill ; 

length.  Finds  the  Mahelly;    the  Mahelly 

9  "  Did  we  not  hold  such  converse,  finds 

when,  last  June,  The  Severn ;  and  the  Severn  finds 

We  paced  thy  garden-walk  between  the  sea. 

the  yews, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      289 

"  And  now,  about  the  portrait ;  I  saw  at  Reading  the 
other  day,  something  in  a  style  which  I  think  on  the 
whole  will  please  you  letter  than  Richmond. — It  is  in 
coloured  chalk,  marvellous  life-like,  and  the  artist  is  avail- 
able (which  I  am  sure  Richmond  is  not),  and  it  will  be 
rather  cheaper  .  .  .  may  I  obtain  for  you  the  artist's  name 
and  address  (I  asked  both,  but  forgot  the  reply !),  and 
either  communicate  with  him,  or  put  you  in  communi- 
cation with  him  yourself? 

"  I  am  confident  that  the  result  would  delight  you  MORE 
than  Richmond.  You  will  perhaps  say,  '  But  wliy  ?  if  R. 
be  the  best  draughtsman  of  the  human  head  living  ? ' — 
I  answer,  '  Because  this  is  NOT  to  be  a  portrait,  but  a 
copy  of  two  imperfect  representations,  and  I  doubt 
whether  the  marvellous  reality  of  Richmond's  pencil  would 
not  rather  realise  those  two  representations  than  the  sainted 
original  .  .  .  Do  you  see  what  I  mean  ?  A  less  piercing 
and  precise,  a  more  sulmi^ire  pencil,  would  be  more 
likely  to  please  you  than  Richmond's  vigorous  handling 
of  a  subject  which,  alas !  he  never  saw. 

"As  regards  my  books— you  will  need  no  assurance 
that  I  have  as  yet  found  time  for  nothing !  No,  I  am 
indeed  finishing  off  my  memoirs  of  the  Colleges  (Wadham, 
Pembroke  and  Worcester  alone  remain  to  be  done) ;  but 
this  is  all  I  shall  be  able  to  achieve  on  this  side  of 
Easter,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  After  Easter,  however  (D.V.) 
I  shall  apply  myself  vi  et  arm  is  to  old  Routh,  and  trust 
I  may  have  done  something  considerable  by  the  Long 
Vacation. 

All  find  the  sea  at  last!  A  little  while  pp.  86,  87]. 

Parted     asunder,  —  but     a    little  "  The  Brithyn,"  writes  Mr.  Hens- 
while —  ley,  "  are  two   hills    springing   up 

And  then  all   find   the   sea.'  ....  abruptly  in  the  vale  of  the  Severn, 

Whereon  we  took  and  almost  overhanging  the  river. 

Our  journey  home  in  silence,  and  They   are    about    seventeen    miles 

sat  down  from  Kerry,  and  form  a  very  pretty 

To    watch    the    slumbers    of    thy  feature    in    the    landscape,    when 

motherless  babe."  looking  down  the  Vale  of  Severn 

"  Worcester   College  "   ['  Poems,'  from  Kerry  heights. ' 

VOL.    I.  U 


290  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  Think  of  me  at  five  o'clock  on  Sunday  evening  (till 
six)  reading  Genesis  with  a  class  of  the  citizens,  at  the 
Town  Hall.  Last  Sunday  was  my  second  lecture ; 
I  have  about  fifty,  and  enjoy  it  much.  So,  I  think,  do 
they  ...  I  cannot  bear  the  sense  of  inactivity ! 

"  As  regards  local  news,  the  chief  is  that  Neate  (who 
lives  above  me)  is  the  candidate  for  Oxford  borough  1  .  .  . 

"  On  Wednesday  and  Friday  evenings  we  have  Lenten 
Sermons  at  St.  Mary's.  The  Bishops  of  Oxford  and 
London,  Dr.  Hook,  Moberly,  Trench,  Wordsworth, 
Pusey,  are  among  the  preachers.  I  wish  you  could 
see  how  full  St.  Mary's  is  on  those  evenings. 

"  I  think  much  of  you,  dearest  fellow,  knowing  how 
full  of  grief  all  this  season  cannot  fail  to  be.  Let  me 
entreat  you,  however,  to  look  with  gratitude  on  that 
little  bud  of  promise  which  is  yet  left  you,  and  to 
remember  that  every  bursting  leaf  and  opening  flower 
is  a  precious  pledge,  as  well  as  a  most  living  type, 
of  the  great  reality  which  is  in  store  for  her,  for  you, 
and  (for  the  merits  of  Him  who  died  for  all!)  I  trust 
for  me  also. 

"  Ever  my  dearest  Alfred, 

"  Your  most  loving  friend, 
"  J.  B." 

1  Mr.    Neate,    eminent    for    his  to  this  squib,  which  has  been  pre- 

abilities   even    among    Fellows   of  served  by  Mr.  G.  V.  Cox  ('  Eecol- 

Oriel,  who  were  all  in  those  days  lections  of  Oxford"    2nd   edition, 

men  of  mark,  was  elected  for  the  p.  427) : — 

City,  but  unseated   for  bribery  in  "  Poor  Mr.  Neate  soon  lost  his  seat, 

the  following  July  on  the  ground  Upset  by  his  agents  for  bribery  ! 

that  his  Committee  (to  whose  pro-  So  the  neat's  tongue  was  dried, 

ceedings  he  was  not  privy)  had  en-  With  many  jokes  beside, 

gaged  a  very  large  number  of  the  Quae   nunc    esset  longum   per- 

constituents    as  paid    messengers;  scribere." 
the  circumstance  which  gives  point 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  THIRD  PERIOD.      291 


To  THE  REVEREND  ALFRED  HENS  LEY. 

"Oriel,  June  3,  1858. 

"  My  dearest  Hensley, — 

"  I  rejoice  to  hear  so  nice  an  account  of  you  and  yours. 
I  trust  it  will  last  for  ever !  How  the  summer  seems  to 
have  burst  upon  us  !  I  fancy  I  see  your  house  and  gar- 
den, and  the  green  dell  beyond,  and  I  hear  the  Mule 
babbling,  and  I  see  you  coming  towards  my  window  with 
a  smile  upon  your  face.  It  is  breakfast  time, — and  we 
have  tea,  bacon,  and  a  large  crusty  loaf.  It  is  tea  time, 
and  we  have  the  same  kind  of  loaf  and  tea,  and  some 

little  cutlets Now  it  is  prayer  time,  and  Hyacinthe 

comes  in.  '  0  so  fond  of  Papa ! '  you  cry,  '  and  so  good.' 
....  Whereupon  the  hope  of  the  house  pulls  to  pieces  a 
nosegay  of  flowers,  kicks,  yelps,  and  goes  through  mani- 
fold exhibitions  of  a  meek  and  chastened  spirit.  Lo,  she 
is  conveyed  upstairs,  and  '  0  so  good/  exclaims  '  dear 
Papa.' 

"  A  kiss  to  the  chick, — my  love  to  the  Moather  2, — a 
heart)7,  more  than  hearty,  greeting  to  your  dear  self! 
"  Ever  your  affectionate, 

"J.  W.  B." 


2  By  the  Moather  Burgon  means 
Mr.  Hensley 's  father — and  mother- 
in-law,  who  resided  near  him  at 
"  the  Moat," — a  place  so  called 
from  an  ancient  earthwork  and  dyke 
in  the  grounds.  "  The  Moather " 
means  the  good  people  at  the  Moat. 
Mr.  Hensley  was  at  the  time  re- 
ferred to  (as  at  the  date  of  this 


letter)  Curate  of  Kerry  (St.Michael), 
Newtown,  Montgomeryshire.  Hya- 
cinthe, the  then  "motherless  babe," 
of  whose  "  slumbers "  mention  is 
made  in  "  Worcester  College " 
['Poem*,' p.  87],  was  Burgon's  god- 
child, and  he  always  manifested  a 
loving  interest  in  her. 


CHAPTER  H. 

THE    OXFORD    LIFE:     FOURTH    PERIOD. 
Tour  in  Egypt,  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  and  Palestine. 
[Sep.  10,  1861 Julg  18,  1862.] 

IT   was  John  William  Burgon's  ministry  at   Rome 
which  gave  occasion  to  his  tour  in  the  East.     "  Behind 
A.P.  1860.  the  pulpit  of  our  little  Church,"  he  writes  in  his  Journal 
7-1  under  date  Oriel,  Sunday  Evening,  Oct.  14,  1860,  "sat  a 
lady  whose  face  I  never  saw.     The  two  ladies  next  to 
her  I  always  noticed,  and  was  always  interested  with 
the  younger."    The  "little  Church"  was   the  English 
Chapel  at  Rome;  and  the  lady  turned  out  to  be  Miss 
Webb,  who  when  he  met  her  at  the  house  of  a  mutual 
friend  (Mrs.  Macbean),  "  spoke  of  the  East  and  her  in- 
tention to  travel  there,"  and  subsequently,  in  an  expedition 
which  he  made  with  her  and  her  two  friends  to  Sette 
Bagni,    definitively    proposed    to    him    to    accompany 
them  to  the  East; — "  but  I  rejected  the  proposal  grate- 
fully but  firmly. .  .  It  was  not  till  we  made  the  circuit 
of  the  Lake  Albano  together — she  and  I — that  I  ever 
seriously  contemplated  accompanying  her  to  the  East." 
Subsequently,  "  a  fortnight  (O  that  never-to-be-forgotten 
fortnight !)  at  Naples    cemented   our    friendship,    and 
acquainted  us   not  a  little  with    one  another. — I  can 
see  the  finger  of  God  in  it  all.     How  dexterous  in  its 
operation  !    And  will  He  not  work  for  me  in  the  days  to 
come  ?    I  think  it ;  and  in  that  humble  confidence  shall 
go  on  my  way  rejoicing." 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    293 

Further  particulars  of  this  meeting  with  Miss  Webb, 
and  of  their  plans,  will  be  found  in  his  letter  from  Naples 
to  his  sister  (Mrs.  Henry  John  Rose),  excerpts  from  which 
will  be  given  at  the  end  of  this  Period. 

It  appears  from  his  Journal  of  a  fortnight  later 
(Oct.  27,  1860).  that  (for  that  year)  he  underwent  a 
keen  disappointment  as  regards  the  Eastern  tour,  Miss 
Webb  writing  to  him  "  to  announce  that  she  had  aban- 
doned her  Eastern  journey,  and  to  explain  the  grounds 
of  this  entire  change  in  her  plans."  The  change 
caused  him,  it  appears,  not  disappointment  only,  but 
pecuniary  loss  (connected  with  some  arrangements  as  to 
the  change  of  College  Officers, — a  change  affecting  the 
income  of  such  Fellows  as  held  office).  But  both  dis- 
appointment and  loss  he  bore,  as  the  Journal  attests,  in 
the  most  exemplary  manner,  reckoning  up  his  gains  by  the 
postponement  of  the  tour  (for  it  turned  out  to  be  only 
postponed,  not  abandoned)  in  the  following  fashion  : — 

"i.I  shall  have  the  comfort  of  seeing  dearest  Hugh  " 
(his  nephew,  recently  come  up  to  Oriel)  "  through  tkejirst 
year  of  his  University  course. 

I  shall  be  able  to  keep  on  at  the  Workhouse,  and 
my  other  useful  and  quasi-pastoral  occupations. 

"  3.  I  shall  gratify  the  Reays  "  (great  friends  of  his 
from  the  very  commencement  of  his  Academical  life), 
••  and  many  others  by  stopping  in  England. 

I   shall  have   time  to  prepare    myself  fully — by 
reading  and  otherwise — for  my  Eastern  tour. 

"5-1  shall  be  able  to  publish  ( D.V.)  at  least  two  works 
before  I  go,  besides  finishing  my  Roman  Letters. 

••  6.  I  shall  enjoy  twice  as  pleasant  a  tour  (D.V.) ;  for 
I  shall  start  with  her.  and  earlier  in  the  year. 

I  shall  enjoy  the  benefit  of  a  year's  interval  of  rest ; 
and  truly  that  is  requisite  after  a  journey  to  Rome. 

"  8.  The  East  will  probably  be  more  settled  by  that 
time,  so  that  we  shall  see  much  more 


294  LIFE  OF  DEAS  BURGOX. 

"  On  the  whole  I  desire  to  bless  God  for  all  that 
happened,  and  to  express  my  unfeigned  submission  to 
His  Divine  decree." 

On  June  25, 1861.  the  Journal  notes ; — 

"  To-day,  at  a  little  after  2  p.m.,  I  wrote  the  last  words 
of '  copy '  for  c  Inspiration  and  Interpretation '  (the  Table  of 
Contents).  Very  thankful  I  feel  to  have  completed  the 
task,  and  very,  very  weary  too.  The  weather  is  sultry  : 
the  College  empty ;  my  rooms  littered  and  dust}' ;  on 
every  side  some  trace  is  discernible  of  something  which 
has  been  neglected  in  order  to  enable  me  to  give  the 
more  time  to  this  task." 

On  the  icth  of  September,  1861,  the  much  wished  for, 
but  deferred  tour  began,  the  party  consisting  of  Miss 
Webb,  Miss  Frances  Guise  (a  cousin  of  Miss  Webb's),  Cap- 
tain and  Mrs.  Bayley,  and  himself.  Two  ladies'  maids 
accompanied  Miss  Webb,  the  elder  of  whom  insisted  on 
taking  her  bullfinch  with  her,  which  bird  will  figure  in 
the  story  further  on.  The  various  stages  of  the  tour,  as 
well  as  (for  him  personally)  its  ill-starred  and  disastrous 
close,  are  thus  described  rapidly  in  a  most  affectionate 
and  interesting  letter  addressed  to  one  who  had  been  in 
early  days  his  Tutor  at  Mr.  Greenlaw's  School  in  Black- 
heath,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Forbes,  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Oriental  Languages  in  the  University  of  Aberdeen.  The 
letter  is  dated  Jan.  12,  1863,  and  was  written  in  the 
course  of  his  somewhat  tedious  convalescence. 

M  In  the  autumn  of  1861 , 1,  who  till  1860  (when  I  went 
for  three  weeks  as  English  Chaplain  to  Rome)  had  iii  vei 
allowed  myself  holiday  or  recreation  since  1841,  left 
England  on  rather  a  distant  tour.  A  lady  whom  I  had 
known  at  Rome  invited  me  to  accompany  her  party  as 
her  Chaplain.  We  went  from  Constance  across  the  Alps 
to  Milan,  Venice,  Trieste,  whence  we  proceeded  to  Alex- 
andria and  Cairo.  We  went  up  the  Nile  to  the  Second 
Cataract,  and  back  to  Cairo.  Thence  to  Sinai,  Petra, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    295 

Hebron,  and  Jerusalem.  There,  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight, 
I  fell  ill ;  and  the  dream  of  my  life  (Samaria  and  Galilee) 
I  could  not  visit.  A  fever  caught  at  Jerusalem,  but  in- 
judiciously treated,  fastened  upon  a  constitution  naturally 
strong,  but  enfeebled  by  over-study.  I  was  conveyed  to 
Jaffa ;  lingered  some  weeks  at  Beyrout ;  and  finally 
reached  England  last  July,  where  I  have  been  ill  ever 
since  !  The  rest  of  my  party  saw  all  I  so  much  desired 
to  see, — the  Holy  Land,  Smyrna,  Constantinople,  the 

Danube,  Munich,  and  so  on Need  I  tell  you  that  I 

endeavour  to  bow  my  heart  to  the  Divine  decree,  sure 
and  certain  that  perfect  Love  and  unerring  Wisdom  have 
been  at  work  on  my  behalf." 

For  the  rest,  Burgon  shall  speak  for  himself,  in  his 
own  lively  and  affectionate  style,  both  as  to  the  original 
proposal  of  the  tour,  and  as  to  his  own  experiences  of 
foreign  travel,  and  the  movements  of  his  party. 


To  MRS.  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Naples,  June  3,  1860. 

"  My  dearest  Carry, — 

"This  is  only  to  communicate  to  you  what  I  cannot 
keep  from  you  at  Houghton  and  Turvey  any  longer — 
though  I  must  entreat  that  for  the  present  it  may  be 
kept  strictly  to  yourselves. 

"  As  I  was  riding  round  the  Lake  of  Albano,  side  by 
side  with  Miss  Webb,  she  told  me  in  a  kinder  manner 
than  I  like  to  write  down,  that  she  wished  to  try  to 
persuade  me  to  accompany  her  to  the  Holy  Land  as  her 
(J/nijjlaiii.  Her  party  consists  of  a  naval  officer  and  his 
wife,  a  Miss  Wynne,  and  of  course  Servants,  &c.  I 
hesitated,  but  she  is  so  much  in  earnest,  and  this  visit 
to  Naples  has  so  clenched  the  matter  that  I  think  it  may 
now  be  regarded  as  a  thing  to  come  off — if  God  wills. 

"The  brief  outline  is: — I  am  to  join  her  at  Thebes, 
shortly  after  Christmas — we  are  to  see  part  of  the  Nile  ; 


296  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

then  to  take  Petra  if  we  can ;  if  not,  to  go  at  all  events 
all  about  the  Holy  Land.  She  says  laughing  that  she 
leaves  the  mapping  out  of  that  part  of  the  tour  to  me  ! ! ! 
Then  we  are  to  come  through  Smyrna,  Constantinople, 
Athens,  and  Greece  generally,  to  Venice,  and  to  part 
either  there  or  at  Florence.  The  tour  will  last  some  six 
or  seven  months. 

"I  have  tried  to  persuade  her  that  my  society  as 
Chaplain  is  not  worth  the  having :  but  she  is  quite  firm, 
and  in  short  the  thing  is  settled. 

"  You  will  ask  who  is  she  ?  She  is  a  lady  of  consider- 
able fortune  I  find — a  niece  of  Sir  John  Guise I 

did  not  meet  her  in  Rome  until  a  few  days  before  she 
left :  but  then  we  became  friends.  My  poor  ministry 
seems  to  have  been  very  acceptable  to  her. 

"  Of  course  I  could  not  be  with  her  now,  except  that 
her  cousin  and  her  kinsman  are  travelling  with  her :  so 
we  four  form  a  pleasant  party — very  pleasant  to  me 
certainly.  The  retinue  consists  of  her  two  maids  and 
courier.  We  go  about  delightfully  ;  and  she  is  never 
tired  of  seeing  us  happy. 

"  Many,  many  more  particulars  when  we  meet.  Her 
wish  was  that  I  should  have  started  down  the  Nile  with 
her  in  October  :  but  I  cannot  get  away  from  College  so 
soon,  and  I  must  and  will  start  my  boy  3  nicely  before  I  go. 
After  Christmas,  I  see  no  reason  however  why  I  should 
not  allow  myself  this  great  gratification — the  realisation 
of  all  my  wildest  dreams.  She  tells  me  very  often  that 
we  shall  see  everything,  and  is  for  ever  making  me  talk  to 

her  about  the  Holy  Land,  and  about  the  Gospels 

She  has  never  heard  of  my  Commentary,  or  Sermons. 
It  is  a  friendship  which  has  grown  out  of  a  slender 
beginning  indeed.  Her  manners  are  very  charming,  and 

3  He  means  his  nephew,  Hugh  back  to  my  happiness "  (in  the  ar- 

James    Eose    (Mrs.    Henry    John  rangement   with   Miss  Webb)    "is 

Rose's  eldest  son,  named  after  his  the  necessity  of  leaving  my  dearest 

illustrious    uncle,    the   Rev.   Hugh  Hugh   behind   me  at   Oriel.     God 

James  Rose),  who  had  recently  come  grant  that  I  may  make  the  most 

up  to  Oriel.    He  says  in  his  Journal  of  the  present  term   to   start   him 

(of  Oct.  14,  1860)  :  «  The  only  draw-  fairly  in  his  new  career." 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    297 

her  independence  and  pleasant   good   sense   are    truly 
delightful. 

"  With  a  hearty  kiss  to  all  (whom  I  long  to  embrace) 
"  Ever,  my  dearest  Carry, 

"  Your  loving  Brother, 

"  J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"  Hotel  du  Brochet,  Constance, 
"  Sunday,  Sept.  22,  1861. 

"  My  dearest  Carry. — I  seem  to  have  been  marvellously 
silent  towards  you  all :  but  the  days  fly  wondrous  fast, 
and  every  moment  of  them  is  filled  wondrous  full.  Let 
me  at  least  tell  you  something  about  ourselves. 

"  That  we  came  hither  all  safe  and  sound,  I  think  you 
know.  Our  route  lay  through  Paris,  Basle,  Zurich  ;  but 
we  travelled  so  fast  that  we  saw  nothing  except  the 
beautiful  Swiss  panorama  from  the  railway-carriage 
window,  coming  from  Basle  to  the  Lake  of  Constance. 
On  arriving  here  all  that  hospitality  could  provide  has 
made  the  place  delightful  to  me.  We  have  delightful 
quarters  (eight  or  nine  rooms  at  the  best  hotel),  a  carriage 
daily,  and  unbounded  kindness. 

"  Our  Hotel  is  within  100  yards  of  the  Lake,  beyond 
which  is  a  belt  of  blue  mountains.  The  quaint  old  man- 
sion in  which  the  famous  Council  of  Constance  was  held 
is  on  our  right, — very  picturesque  it  is.  (I  have  drawn 
it  of  course.)  The  scenery  is  far  from  grand  (except  that 
snow  mountains  come  to  view  the  moment  the  air  is 
clear),  but  it  is  very  beautiful  indeed,  and  the  drives  are 
delightful.  The  people  quite  charm  me.  They  are  so 
quiet,  honest,  sober,  civil,  kind  to  their  animals,  and  in- 
offensive, that  you  cannot  return  from  a  walk  without 
liking  them  better  than  before  you  started.  The  place  is 
Roman  Catholic,  and  the  contrast  between  this  form  of 
Romanism  and  the  Romanism  of  Rome  interests  me 
immensely.  Miss  Fanny"  [Miss  Guise]  "and  I  get  an 
early  walk,  and  poke  into  every  hole  and  corner,  and  come 


298  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

back  two  or  three  times  a  day  with  a  host  of  new  notions 
and  odd  discoveries.  Tell  dearest  Rose  that  my  very 
circumscribed  knowledge  of  German  is  the  greatest  barrier. 
But  we  contrive  after  a  fashion.  Miss  Fanny  knows  about 
a  hundred  words,  and  I  have  learnt  about  twenty. 

"  It  would  not  interest  you  much,  or  indeed  at  all,  to 
have  the  names  of  the  places  we  have  driven  to  and 
drawn.  I  reserve  it  all  for  some  happy  future  day.  The 
chief  thing  I  wish  to  explain  is  that  we  are  here  so  long 
simply  because,  Constance  being  the  residence  of  Miss 
Webb's  courier  (who  has  a  charming  house  by  the  Lake 
about  two  miles  off),  she  makes  her  head- quarters,  and 
keeps  her  carriages  and  luggage  here.  All  the  planning 
and  packing  takes  place  here,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last 
day  or  two  that  the  plan  of  our  future  march  has  been 
fixed.  We  have  been  joined  by  Mrs.  Bayley  only  to-day, 
and  she  is  not  quite  well.  On  Tuesday  v;e  start.  Our 
route  lies  through  Milan  and  Verona  to  Venice.  There 
we  are  to  halt  for  six  days,  and  so  on  to  Trieste,  whence 
at  the  end  of  two  days  we  proceed  to  Alexandria. 

"  This  is  a  charming  old  place — a  decayed  city,  but  full 
of  interest.  I  have  made  several  drawings,  chiefly  in 
order  to  get  my  hand  in,  and  hope  that  I  shall  be  able 
to  achieve  something  of  interest  before  I  return. 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  feel  wonderfully  im- 
proved in  health,  and  I  am  told  look  much  better  than 
when  I  came  out  ...  I  read  and  write  next  to  nothing  ; 
but  eat,  drink,  sleep,  draw,  and  walk  or  drive.  Miss 
Webb's  kindness  is  unbounded.  All  is  as  luxurious 
and  comfortable  as  can  be.  I  was  so  gratified  to  hear  her 
say  after  I  had  been  vaunting  of  Tina4  to  her,  that  she 
hoped  to  have  her  as  her  guest  some  day  in  Chesham 
Place. 

"  I  find  my  sketching  umbrella  very  useful ;  but  the 
weather  has  been  rainy  and  even  cold.  In  the  East  it 
will  be  invaluable.  All  my  equipage  does  well  as  far  as 
I  have  had  occasion  hitherto  to  prove  it. 

4  His  niece  Emily,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mrs.  Henry  John  Hose. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    299 

"  I  will  write  in  a  day  or  two  again.  But  I  am  anxious 
to  send  you  all  my  love,  and  to  ask  after  you  all.  Re- 
member me  with  fondest  love  to  every  one.  Tell  the 
beloved  children  that  I  miss  them  sadly. 

"  Ever  dearest  Carry, 

"  Your  loving  brother, 
"  J.  W.  B." 

To  THE  REVEREND  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Hotel  de  la  Ville,  Milan,  Oct.  2,  1861. 

"My  dearest  Rose. — It  is  midnight,  and  this  is  the 
second  of  two  fatiguing  days ;  but  I  perceive  that  the 
next  and  the  next  will  be  even  more  fatiguing ; — so  I 
must  send  you  a  few  lines  before  going  to  bed. 

"We  left  the  Tyrol  and  entered  Lombardy  on  Monday, 
coming  across  the  Stelvio  Pass,  which  is  perhaps  the 
grandest.  I  can  scarcely  give  you  any  idea  of  it  with 
my  pen,  but  I  have  made  plenty  of  sketches  (indeed  my 
pencil  never  rests)  and  kept  a  full  journal  The  Stelvio 
Pass  is  the  highest  carriage  road  in  Europe,  being  9176 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  half  a  mile  (perpendicular)  above 
the  Simplon,  1000  feet  above  the  great  St.  Bernard.  The 
day  was  splendid,  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  and  the  view 
unspeakably  grand.  The  Ortler  Spitze  ('  the  giant  of  the 
Rhaetian  Alps ')  was  before  us  ;  and  we  looked  down  on 
its  many  glaciers  streaming  from  its  sides,  every  wrinkle 
in  the  ice  visible.  I  wished  much  for  you  all  ...  We 
were  far  above  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  of  course. 
Then  we  descended  (the  road  quite  wonderful, — eternal 
zigxags)  to  Bormio,  where  we  slept.  Yesterday  we  came 
on  from  Bormio  (the  first  town  in  Lombardy)  to  Morbegno 
(starting  at  six,  and  getting  in  at  eight, — fourteen  hours 
drive),  a  small  town  in  the  Valtelline  (or  Val  of  Tellina), 
passing  through  a  perfect  garden  for  beauty  of  scenery 
and  fertility  of  country.  The  vintage  was  going  on,  and 
the  sights  were  lovely.  Peasants  carrying  huge  baskets 
of  grapes,  carts  with  full  vats,  and  all  sorts  of  rustic 
occupations,  such  as  Virgil  may  have  seen.  The  costume 
most  picturesque,  and  all  most  pleasing.  To  Miss  Webb, 


coo  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBOON. 

\j 

who  knows  every  inch  of  the  road  by  heart,  and  who  is 
disgusted  because  she  cannot  post  with  four  horses,  it 
was  stupid  enough ;  but  to  me  it  was  a  rare  treat. 

"  This  morning  we  came  on  from  Morbegno  to  Colico 
(on  the  banks  of  the  Lake  of  Como)  and  went  down  the 
lovely  lake  in  the  afternoon  from  end  to  end.  At  eight 
we  left  Como,  and  reached  Milan  at  ten.  We  are  in 
splendid  quarters 

"  To-morrow  I  must  be  up  early.  A  valet  fle  place  is  to 
wait  upon  me ;  and  I  flatter  myself  I  shall  tire  him  out. 
We  have  but  one  day  here !  On  the  next  day  we  go  on 
to  Venice  and  stay  there  for  five  days.  I  long  to  receive 
news  of  you  all  there  D.V.  Till  Oct.  12,  letters  will  find 
me  at  Hotel  de  la  Ville,  Trieste. 

"  I  think  of  you  all  hourly.  Tell  my  Tan 5  that  as  we 
drove  past  the  Rosanne  river,  Miss  Fanny  asked  me  if  I  was 
not  thinking  of  Anna  Rose.  Kiss  all  for  me.  Remember 
your  Article  on  Bishop  Home  for  the  Quarterly 

"  With  much  love,  ever,  my  dearest  Rose, 
"  Your  loving  Brother, 
"J.  W.  B." 


To  THE  REVEKEND  HENKY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"  Between  the  Island  of  Philse 

"and  the  ist  Cataract,  Jan.  16,  1862. 

"  My  dearest  Rose,— This  is  my  first  letter  to  any  of 
you  since  I  was  nearly  in  this  locality  about  one  month 
ago.  And  it  must  be  to  you,  because  your  birthday  fell 
out  about  midway.  I  did  not  fail  to  think  of  you.  my 
dearest  fellow,  very  affectionately  on  the  3rd,  and  to 
wish  you  from  my  soul  (and  to  myself  and  to  so  many 
more)  many  happy  returns  of  that  day.  May  GOD 
preserve  and  bless  you,  bless  you  in  your  beloved  ones, 
and  in  your  Parish,  for  CHRIST'S  sake. 

"You   are    doubtless    sufficiently   familiar  with    the 

5  His  niece,  Miss  Anna  Rose,  daughter  of  his  correspondent. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    301 

geography  of  the  Nile  to  understand  from  my  date 
where  we  are,  and  what  we  are  about.  We  have  happily 
achieved  our  journey  as  far  as  the  second  Cataract  (which 
we  saw  and  shot),  and  from  that  spot  (Wady  Halfeh) 
have  been  coming  down  the  Nile  ever  since,  arriving  at 
this  village  (Mehatte)  last  night  after  spending  a  long 
day  at  Philse.  We  reached  the  second  Cataract  on  the 
3  ist  of  December  (singularly  enough),  and  have  been 
•since  coming  back,  stopping  to  see  every  Temple  in  the 
way.  There  are  fifteen  of  them  ;  and  I  have  made  draw- 
ings of  all  but  two,  which  we  saw  on  a  Sunday.  I  have 
been  very  happy,  and  have  copied  several  inscriptions 
(especially  the  curious  one,  which  the  soldiers  of  Psammi- 
tichus  engraved  on  the  left  leg  of  the  colossal  figure  of 
Rameses  the  Great,  close  to  the  door-way  of  the  rock 
Temple  of  Abou-Simbel).  Indeed  I  have  not  been  idle 
(except  sometimes  between  sunset  and  seven  o'clock)  for 
a  single  hour,  I.  believe.  We  have  all  enjoyed  perfect 
health  and  been  very  happy.  As  for  Miss  Webb's  kind- 
ness, I  cannot  describe  it.  She  says  she  will  repeat  the 
journey  next  year,  if  I  will,  or  rather  can,  come  with  her ; 
for  we  all  wished  sadly  to  have  gone  up  as  high  as 
Abyssinia.  She  stops  the  boat  till  I  have  done  drawing, 
and  is  bent  only  on  making  us  all  happy,  in  which  she 
certainly  succeeds.  I  long  for  you  to  know  her.  Mr. 
Bayley  will  have  made  far  more  than  a  hundred  photo- 
graphs,— some  exquisite  ones.  Miss  F.  is  the  helper  of  all 
the  party,  and  my  companion  in  all  my  scrambles  and 
drawings — the  gentlest,  cheerfullest  spirit  imaginable. 
Mrs.  Bayley  has  looked  after  my  eyes  as  kindly  as  any 
sister  could,  touching  them  with  nitrate  of  silver  every 
morning,  and  giving  me  a  lotion  every  evening  for  half- 
an-hour.  I  perceive  that  my  hard  reading  has  weakened 
them  very  considerably.  Thank  GOD  however,  since  the 
three  dark  days  at  Cairo,  I  have  not  been  hindered  a 
single  day  from  drawing,  though  I  have  winked  and 
blinked  like  an  owl. 

"  We  have  seen  some  wonderful  sights  certainly  ;  but 
two  are  preeminent,  viz.  the  Rock  Temple  of  Abou- 
Simbe]  and  the  Island  of  Philae,  which  is  the  loveliest 


102 


LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


object  imaginable,  and  quite  a  romance  6.  I  had  no  idea 
of  the  beauty  and  interest  of  the  Nile,  and  we  are  all 
agreed  that  travellers  must  be  blind  to  have  said  so  little 
about  it.  What  a  vividness  will  what  I  have  been  seeing 
and  doing  for  the  last  two  months  give  to  all  my  sub- 
sequent reading  in  relation  to  Egypt !  and  how  I  should 
rejoice  if  you  could  be  here — you  all — to  share  the  delight 
with  me ! 

"  Since  I  wrote  the  preceding  we  have  shot  the  rapids, 
of  the  Cataract  and  are  safely  moored  to  the  Island  of 
Elephantine.  As  we  came  in  between  it  and  Syena 
(Assouan),  I  read  aloud  and  laughed  heartily  over  the 
account  of  the  place  given  by  Herodotus  (Crophi  and 
Mophi)7.  That  feat  of  shooting  the  Cataract  is  really 

6  "  A  calm  and  noble  reach  of  the       markable   for  the   magnificence   of 

the  panorama  which  they  afford,  or 
the  historical  associations  which 
they  evoke ;  but  the  view  of  Philse 
is  nothing  but  one  of  pure  beauty 
....  The  temple  of  Karnac  is  the 
embodiment  of  the  majesty  of  Egyp- 
tian art ;  Philse  is  the  point  at 
which  we  see  that  majesty  blending 
with  the  pure  beauty  of  Greece. 
The  scene  of  ruin  almost  heightens 
the  effect  of  Karnac;  it  jars  with 


majestic  river,  shut  in  like  a  lake 
with  its  mountain  border,  soon 
opened  on  us  through  a  portal  of 
the  last  of  those  scattered  piles  of 
sombre  rocks  through  which  we  had 
forced  our  noisy  way ;  and  in  its 
midst  an  island  slept,  as  it  were,  in 
enchantment  —  the  sacred  Philse ; 
its  temples  of  mysterious  sanctity 
half  hidden  by  sheltering  groves  of 
palm,  and  reflected  far  down  into 
the  broad,  silent,  and  glassy  river. 
Gliding  across  this  tranquil  basin, 
we  furled  our  sails  and  laid  the  boat 
under  the  deep  cool  shadow  of  a 
high  bank  overhung  with  foliage; 
certainly  the  most  beautiful  spot  in 
Egypt.  A  graceful  columnar  build- 
ing, of  the  later  style  of  Egyp- 
tian art  on  a  bold  and  massive 
foundation,  looked  down  from  amidst 
clusters  of  palms  upon  the  water — 
one  of  those  combinations  rather 
like  the  creation  of  a  painter's  fancy 
than  an  actual  scene." — Bartlett's 
'  The  Nile  Boat '  [London :  H.  G. 
Bohn,  1862],  p.  209. 

"Other  views  in  Egypt  are  re- 


the  beauty  of  Philae.  We  look  away 
from  the  black  rocks ;  we  hear  the 
distant  roar  of  the  cataracts,  speak- 
ing of  rage  and  strife ;  and  we  re- 
cognise in  the  lovely  island  the 
abode  of  Peace." — Bell's  '  From 
Pharaoh  to  Fellah '  [London  :  Wells 
Gardner,  1888],  p.  142. 

7  The  passage  of  Herodotus  re- 
ferred to  will  be  found  in  Book  II. 
Euterpe.  Cap.  28.  A  translation  of 
it  is  subjoined  : — 

"With  regard  to  the  sources  of 
the  Nile,  not  one  of  the  Egyptians, 
or  Libyans,  or  Greeks,  with  whom 
I  have  conversed,  ever  professed  to 
know  anything,  except  the  Registrar 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    303 

a  perilous  operation.  We  took  on  board  thirty-two 
fresh  sailors,  and  in  our  boat  alone  we  were  sixty  souls. 
An  accident  would  be  certain  destruction ;  but  an 
accident  has  not  happened  for  twenty-five  years,  when 
the  boat  was  lost,  and  all  the  fourteen  people  on  board 
perished.  The  tide  boils  through  a  channel  ten  yards 
wide  and  about  fifty  long,  and  along  you  rush  with 
three  men  to  each  of  the  ten  oars, — two  pilots  and  two 
captains  being  all  the  time  objurgating  and  urging  the 
men  and  one  another.  The  instant  the  peril  was  over, 
out  caine  the  drum  and  tambourine,  and  some  of  the 
sailors  sitting  in  a  circle  began  to  chant  a  merry  tune, 
wrhile  an  old  buffoon  danced  with  a  stick.  O  we  have 
certainly  seen  some  of  the  strangest  scenes  imaginable 
of  late  !  I  long  to  describe  it  all  to  you. 

"  I  heartily  trust  I  shall  have  good  accounts  of  you  all. 
It  makes  me  anxious  after  so  prolonged  an  absence  from 
England. 

"  This  evening  I  believe  we  leave  Assouan  and  begin 
to  drop  down  the  Nile  to  Cairo,  where  we  expect  to  be 

of  the  sacred  treasure  of  Minerva  bottomless,'  he  said,  '  was  the  con- 

at  Sais,  a  city  of  Egypt.     But  this  elusion  at  which  Psammitichns  the 

individual,  in  my  opinion  at  least,  king   of  Egypt  arrived  by  experi- 

was  only  joking  when  he  asserted  ment ;  for  having  caused  a  cable  to 

that  he  had  a  thorough  knowledge  be  twisted  many  thousand  fathoms 

of  the  subject.     He  however  gave  in  length,  he  let  it  down  into  the 

the  following  account :  <  That  there  aperture,  and  yet  never  reached  the 

are  two  mountains,  whose  crests  rise  bottom.' " 

into  sharp  peaks,  situate  between  The  historian  adds,  as  his  own  view 

the  city  of  Syene  in  the  Thebaid  of  the  subject,  that,  supposing  the 

and    Elephantine ;     and    that    the  story  about  Psammitichus's  experi- 

names  of  these   mountains   are,  of  ment  to  be  true,  what  really  pre- 

the  one  Krophi,  and  of  the  other  vented  the  plumb-line  from  going  to 

Mophi  ;    that   the   sources    of    the  the  bottom  was,  not  that  there  was 

Nile,    then,  which   are  bottomless,  no  bottom, but  that  the  strong  eddies 

flow  from  between  these  two  moun-  and  whirlpools  which  the  Registrar 

tains;    and   that   one   half  of  the  admitted  to  exist  at  the  source  of 

water  flows  into  Egypt,  and  towards  the  river  (and  which  still  are  found 

the    north,   while    the    other    half  at  the  Cataracts),  would  not  allow 

flows   into    Ethiopia,   and   towards  the  lead  to  sink, 
the   south.     That   the   sources   are 


304  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

by  the  middle  of  February,  and  to  stop  at  Cairo  till  the 
end  of  the  month.  Thence  Sinai  and  Petra,  if  GOD  will. 

About  sixteen  Temples  remain  to  be  inspected 

and  drawn  between  this  and  Cairo,  at  which  place  I 
mean  to  send  home  all  my  journals  and  sketches  and 
purchases,  which  are  very  numerous,  all  three  of  them. 
No  pyramids  as  yet,  and  Thebes  only  cursorily,  have  we 
seen.  In  short,  three  months  is  not  enough  (nor  six 
months  either)  for  Egypt. 

"  I  shall  be  curious  to  hear  the  fate  of  my  book  "  ['  In- 
spiration and  Interpretation^  "  in  which  a  great  deal  remained 
to  be  done  by  yourself.  I  hear  from  England  that  750 
copies  were  sold  at  Murray's  book-sale.  .  .  .  You  seem  to 
have  had  cold  weather.  With  us  it  is  very  hot ;  far  too 
hot  to  draw  in  the  sun,  but  the  nights  in  Nubia  (which 
is  a  lovely  country  with  a  delicious  climate)  were  cold 

enough We  are  absurd  enough  to  feel  as  if  it  were 

quite  commonplace  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  Thebes, — quite 
cockney.  Every  thing  in  Nubia  is  so  agreeable  ;  the  people 
so  harmless  and  kind  ;  the  face  of  Nature  so  interesting  ! 
In  short,  I  cannot  express  the  easy  luxury  of  such  travel- 
ling as  this. 

"  But  it  is  time  to  conclude.  Adieu,  dearest  Rose.  GOD 
bless  you  all.  We  talked  and  thought  of  you  so  much 
on  Christmas  Day,  when  we  decked  our  cabin  with 
evergreens,  and  had  turkey  and  plum  pudding.  We 
have  daily  prayers,  and  spend  some  of  every  day  with 
our  Bible,  which  gives  quite  a  home  flavour  to  our 
furtherest  wanderings. 

"  Ever,  my  dearest  Rose, 

"  Your  loving  brother, 

«J.  W.  B." 

The  above  letter  contains,  in  its  earlier  part,  a  reference 
to  his  having  "  copied  the  inscription  which  the  soldiers 
of  Psammitichus  engraved  on  one  of  the  legs  of  the  colossal 
figure  of  Rameses  the  Great,  close  to  the  door-way  of 
the  rock  Temple  of  Abou-Simbel "  [Ipsamboul].  On  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    305 

night  of  the  4th  Jan.,  1862  (twelve  days  previously  to 
the  date  of  the  letter)  he  had  spent  an  hour  in  the  rock 
Temple,  which  he  afterwards  described  in  print,  by 
extracts  from  his  Journal.  This  he  did  in  compliance 
with  the  request  of  Aliss  Finn,  the  daughter  of  the 
English  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  who  showed  him  the 
greatest  possible  kindness  when  under  his  roof,  and 
brought  very  low  by  the  Jerusalem  fever.  Some  ex- 
tracts from  this  paper  (now  not  easily  obtainable)  are 
here  presented  to  the  reader,  partly  in  order  to  illustrate 
the  preceding  letter,  partly  by  way  of  exhibiting  the 
poetry  that  was  in  him,  and  that  intense  susceptibility 
to  the  sublime  and  the  grotesque  (they  lie  proverbially 
close  together),  which  characterized  him  from  his  earliest 
youth. 

••  While  we  were  at  breakfast,  a  swing  of  our  boat 
brought  us  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Abou-Simbel.  We 
were  soon  moored  to  the  bank,  Up  a  hill  of  golden 
sand — the  mighty  sand-drift  which  half  hides  the  front 
of  the  Temple, — we  climbed  impatiently  ;  and  every 
sentiment  of  awe  and  admiration,  even  of  surprise, 
which  the  first  sight  of  the  four  amazing  colossal  figures 
which  guard  the  entrance  had  inspired,  was  reproduced 
in  an  instant.  There  is  a  calm  dignity  in  those  faces, — 
an  air  of  imperturbable  gravity  prevailing  over  what 
might  once  have  turned  into,  but  what  you  feel  never 
can  become,  a  smile, — which  awes  and  yet  wins  you  at 
the  same  instant." 

lie  then  describes  the  interior  of  the  Temple,  with  its 
vestibule  and  thirteen  chambers,  and  its  adytum  (or 
inmost  shrine),  behind  the  altar  of  which,  "a  mere 
square  block  of  stone,  four  grim  gods  sit,  facing  you  as 
you  enter." 

"  My  next  object  was  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  famous 
Greek  inscription  left  by  the  soldiers  of  Psammitichus 
VOL.  i.  x 


306  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

(B.C.  600),  on  the  base  of  one  of  the  colossal  figures  of 
Rameses  the  Great  at  the  left  of  the  entrance.  Nothing 
was  to  be  seen,  the  sand  being  more  than  half  way  up 
the  calf  of  the  figure  in  question.  There  had  accumu- 
lated round  us  a  strange  number  of  men  and  boys.  They 
live,  I  suspect,  on  the  top  and  in  the  rear  of  the  rock  in 
which  the  Temple  has  been  excavated.  Like  birds  of 
prey  at  the  sight  of  carrion,  down  they  had  come  at  the 
news  of  our  two  boats.  Ali  was  instructed  to  offer 
twenty  of  them  five  piastres  apiece  if  they  would  remove 
the  sand,  with  a  promise  of  extra  pay  (so  as  to  make  up 
a  pound)  if  the  inscription  were  discovered.  Twenty  or 
thirty  men  and  boys  were  busily  at  work  in  an  instant, 
scooping  away  the  sand  with  right  good  will,  and  chant- 
ing lustily  all  the  while.  One  to  whom  I  owed  the 
pleasure  of  that  journey,  and  who  always  took  the 
liveliest  interest  in  operations  of  this  nature,  on  hearing 
of  my  agreement  with  the  natives,  kindly  insisted  on 
defraying  the  expense  herself.  The  shrewdness  of  those 
fellows  amused  us  all.  Without  understanding  a  word 
of  English,  they  divined  the  upshot  of  what  she  was  say- 
ing, and  instantly  changed  their  chant  and  its  burthen  : 
admitting  her,  so  to  speak,  into  the  concern.  (Before,  I 
had  figured  alone.)  Any  thing  more  unscientific  than 
their  method  I  never  witnessed.  The  sand  streamed 
back  as  fast  as  they  removed  it ;  and  still  they  were  for 
going  on,  without  resource  or  remedy  of  any  kind.  Their 
stupidity  astonished  me.  The  ladies  of  our  party  took 
their  seats  on  a  little  fragment  of  rock,  and  watched 
the  operation  with  great  delight.  It  was  really  a  very 
animated  scene." 

The  inscription  having  at  length  been  disinterred, 
Burgon  copies  it  with  great  care,  and,  standing  on  the 
backs  of  "two  most  good-natured  and  accommodating 
Nubian  boatmen,  takes  accurate  measurements  of  the 
face  of  one  of  the  four  colossal  figures  at  the  entrance." 

The  Paper  concludes  thus : — 

"  Strange,  that  after  transcribing  so  much  of  my 
Journal,  I  have  not  yet  written  the  few  words,  for  the 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    307 

sake  of  writing  which  I  took  up  my  pen  !  After  what 
precedes  they  will  at  least  be  fully  intelligible ;  which 
else,  they  certainly  would  never  have  been. 

"  At  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  this  most  in- 
teresting day,  a  strong  wish  came  over  me  to  go  back, 
and  pay  one  more  visit  to  Rameses  the  Great.  Two  of 
our  party  expressed  their  willingness  to  bear  me  com- 
pany. We  furnished  ourselves  with  a  slender  pole,  to 
the  extremity  of  which  we  secured  a  candle :  left  our 
shoes  behind  us, — (the  sand  was  so  warm  and  soft  to  the 
feet,  and  walking  with  shoes  was  so  very  inconvenient) — 
and  after  the  most  noiseless  fashion  imaginable,  took 
our  starlight  way  towards  the  Temple.  We  were  soon 
there. 

"Having  entered,  we  made  a  complete  survey  over 
again  of  every  part ;  leisurely  exploring  the  walls  in 
every  direction  with  our  solitary  candle,  so  as  to  obtain 
a  notion  of  what  was  anywhere  incised  upon  them. 
The  silence  was  intense  :  the  whirring  of  the  wings  of  a 
nervous  little  bat,  who  made  the  circuit  of  the  Temple 
with  us,  the  only  thing  audible.  We  found  our  way  into 
the  remotest  chamber  of  all, — the  shrine ;  where  (as  I 
have  said  before)  four  gloomy  gods  face  you,  in  a  sitting 
posture.  Quite  awful  was  it  to  find  them  still  sitting 
there  in  the  dark,  as,  twelve  hours  before,  we  had  left 
them,  motionless,  in  grim  majesty.  'And  there  they 
will  sit '  (we  said  to  ourselves)  '  unconscious  of  change, 
until  the  ages  shall  have  run  out,  and  the  end  shall 
be!' 

"  The  last  thing  I  did  on  leaving  the  great  hall  of  the 
Temple  was  the  first  thing  I  had  done  on  entering  it, — 
namely,  to  obtain  a  careful  survey  of  the  features  of  the 
first  colossus  on  the  right,  by  lifting  up  the  candle  above 
the  head  of  the  figure.  I  cannot  express  how  striking 
was  the  result.  In  that  vast,  mysterious,  cavern-like 
chamber  the  only  object  in  bright  relief  was  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  monarch  who,  3,200  years  ago,  had  caused 
this  mighty  fabric  to  be  wrought  out  of  the  solid  rock. 
The  serene  majesty  of  the  expression  of  those  features 
was  even  affecting.  It  was  the  deep  repose,  the  profound 

X    2 


3o8  LIFE  OF  DEAX  BcsG"X. 

calm,  of  death.  Making  the  boatman  -who  waited  on  us 
hold  the  light  for  me,  I  drew  for  a  few  minutes,— minutea 
which  seemed  like  hours:  so  many  ^solemn  thoughts 
crowded  themselves  in,  unbidden.  None  of  us  spoke. 
The  silence  was  so  intense  that  one  might  have  heard 
the  ticking  of  one's  watch.  What  is  strange, — at  la.-t. 
on  looking  up  from  my  paper,  I  thought  I  saw  the 
beoinning  of  a  smile  on  the  lips  of  Ranieses.  Intently 
I  gazed,  and  of  course  recognised  the  sufficiently  obvious 
fact  that  the  supposed  smile  was  merely  the  effect  of  my 
own  imagination.  But  it  is  just  as  certain  that  I  gazed 
on  until. — I  am  half  ashamed  to  write  it.  but  it  is  true. — 
until  the  features  seemed  to  me  to  smile  again.  Then 
they  grew  graver  than  ever  :  but  at  last  I  felt  sure  that 
they  relaxed — just  a  little  bit — again.  One's  nerves 
were*  getting  over-strung.  I  invented  a  sentiment  for 
the  lips  to  utter,  and  felt  sure  that  I  was  interpreting 
their  most  expressive  outline  rightly.  I  daresay,  if  ] 
had  been  alone,  and  had  stopped  long  enough.  I  should 
have  heard  Ranieses  speak.  It  would  have  been  some- 
what to  this  effect : — '  You  seem  astonished,  Sir,  at  what 
you  are  beholding  in  this  remote  corner  of  my  dominions. 
No  wonder;  for  with  all  your  boasted  civilisation  and 
progress,  you  could  not  match  this  edifice  in  the  far-away 
land  to  which  (as  I  gather  from  your  uncouth  dress  and 
manners)  you  and  your  friends  belong.  I  have  been  re- 
posing here  in  effigy  for  upwards  of  3.000  years.  I  have 
seen  generation  after  generation  of  ancient  Greeks,  and 
then  generation  after  generation  of  ancient  Romans,  enter 
this  hall ;  peep  and  pry, — as  you  have  done  this  evening ; 
and  then  vanish  at  yonder  portal, — as  you  will  your- 
selves do  a  few  moments  hence.  If  I  smiled  for  an  in- 
stant just  now — (it  is  not  my  wont  to  smile). — it  was  only 
because  you  really  looked  alarmed  as  well  as  awed  at 
my  presence.  But  I  shall  not  smile  again.  So  now,  go 
home,  Sir, — go,  and  write  a  book,  like  the  rest,  about  the 
little  you  have  seen  in  Egypt ;  but  let  it  humble  you 
to  remember  that  Ranieses  will  be  standing  here,  un- 
changeable, long  after  you,  and  your  book,  and  all  that 
belongs  to  you  is  utterly  forgotten.  You  may  go,  Sir. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    309 

It  is  getting  late — for  you.     You    had   better  go,  Sir. 
Good  night ! ' 

••  \Ve  lingered :  retiring  a  few  steps,  and  then  turning 
again  to  look  ;  profoundly  conscious  that  we  were 
looking  our  last ;  that  we  should  never  fasten  our  eyes 
on  those  glorious  forms  again.  I  fancy  too  that  we 
were,  all  three,  impressed  with  an  uneasy  suspicion  that 
it  was  not  mere  lifeless  stone  that  we  had  been  visiting, 
and  were  now  leaving  to  profoundest  silence  and  utter 
gloom.  ...  It  was  a  relief  to  emerge  into  the  fresh 
ev.-ning  air;  to  survey  the  starry  heavens  overhead, 
Orion,  and  the  rest;  and  to  recognise  our  two  boats, 
bright  with  lights,  beneath  us,  moored  to  the  bank  of  the 
broad  shining  river." 


To  MRS.  HIGQINS. 

"Cairo,  Feb.  21,  1862. 

••  The  contents  of  box  No.  i  were  very  acceptable. 
The  reviews"  [of  his  Book  on  '•Inspiration  and  Inter- 
/,,;'/, it'ion  ']  "interested  me  of  course.  I  think  they  are 
not  by  any  means  unfair,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
almost  any  one  but  a  Divine — and  he  a  very  earnest 
one.  Laymen  will  naturally  think  me  unduly  harsh. 
I  cannot  say,  after  the  two  opposite  currents  of  praise 
and  blame,  whether  I  am  right  or  wrong.  I  suspect  I 
must  be  "rather  in  the  wrong,  and  have  been  too  personal, 
though  I  am  by  no  means  sure.  Dr.  Jebb,  Mr.  Darby, 
ami  MANY  others,  back  me  up  unconditionally.  Anyhow 
I  think  the  l  J/ifi'ian/  >'// n  >•<•// /,/n /t,'  unreasonably  brief  con- 
cerning so  very  large  and  thoughtful  a  work,  and  '-Tin', 
niii.  '  somewhat  harsh ;  for  the  Reviewer  barely 

admits. however,  it  matters  not.  I  did  what  I  thought 

my  duty 

"  Your  loving  Brother, 

"J.  W.  B." 


3io  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

To  MRS.  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Cairo,  Feb.  26,  1862. 

"  How  much  I  wished  for  you  and  the  beloved  children 
in  Nubia !  Travelling  there  is  so  very  delightful,  and 
so  very  amusing !  I  drew  incessantly,  and  shall  have 
a  great  deal  to  show  you  when  I  return. 

"But  when  that  will  be  I  do  not  exactly  know;  for 
Chase  holds  on  S.  Mary's  (entre  nous)  till  October ;  and 
there  is  a  great,  great  deal  in  our  programme  !  Meantime 
I  accumulate  keepsakes  for  you  all ;  and  keep  ample 
journals  of  every  day's  occupations.  The  interest  of 
these  countries  to  one  who  dips  a  little  below  the  surface 
is  indeed  great.  When  you  consider  that  Memphis  (close 
by)  was  illustrious  certainly  a  few  centuries  after  the 
Flood,  it  is  needless  to  say  how  stirring  and  how  striking 
are  all  indications  of  the  missing  links  in  the  long  chain 
of  the  history  from  that  day  to  this.  You  would  be 
amazed  at  the  interest  and  the  wonder  of  the  ground 
I  drive  over  daily. 

"  To-morrow,  for  example,  we  hope  to  pass  at  Helio- 
polis — the  On  of  Genesis.  The  solitary  Obelisk  which 
stands  in  the  middle  of  it  was  there  in  Joseph's  time,  and 
it  was  there  probably  that  Moses  received  his  education  8. 
It  is  a  most  complete  wilderness  now,  but  one  which 
seems  to  teem  with  mysterious  life ! 

"Your  loving  Brother, 

«J.  W.  B. 

"The  carriage  is  at  the  door  and  the  donkeys  are 
waiting." 

Dean  Stanley  enters  with  even  seen  standing  in  its  proper  place, 
more  enthusiasm  than  Burgon  on  and  there  it  has  stood  for  nearly 
the  associations  clinging  to  this  fa-  four  thousand  years.  It  is  the 
mous  obelisk.  "The  other  vestige  oldest  known  in  Egypt,  and  there- 
of the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun  (the  fore  in  the  world,— the  father  of  all  - 
igh-priest  of  which  was  father-in-  that  have  arisen  since.  It  was 
law  of  Joseph)  is  the  solitary  obe-  raised  about  a  century  before  the 
Uft  which  stood  in  front  of  the  tern-  coming  of  Joseph ;  it  has  looked 
pie.  This  is  the  first  obelisk  I  have  down  on  bis  marringe  with  Ase- 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    311 

To  THE  REVEREND  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Cairo,  Feb.  26,  1862. 

'''My  dearest  Rose, — 

"  That  I  am  well,  and  so  on,  you  will  learn  from  my 
letters  already  written,  and  which  will  reach  England 
along  with  this.  I  do  not  suffer  in  any  respect — eyes  or 
hand ;  but  I  have  thought  it  right  to  consult  a  great 
oculist  who  is  here  for  his  health,  and  whose  advice 
amounts  almost  to  this — 'Wear  spectacles,  attend  to 
your  bodily  health,  and  do  not  use  your  eyes  at  night.' 
More  easily  said  than  done!  However,  I  really  mean 
to  be  careful. 

"All  is  now  settled  for  our  journey.  We  shall  be  off 
by  the  close  of  next  week  (D.V.),  with  upwards  of  thirty 
camels.  Our  exact  equipage  you  shall  hear  more  of 
by  and  by.  The  sheik  who  carries  us  to  Akaba  came 
to  see  us  yesterday — quite  a  dark  son  of  Ishmael.  Ali, 
our  dragoman,  is  deemed  the  best  dragoman  in  the 
place,  and  he  says  our  sheik  is  the  best  to  Akaba. 
A  great  deal  depends  on  the  man  we  have  with  us,  for 
we  have  so  many  ladies  ;  and  we  want  to  see  Petra. 

"  The  nature  of  this  last  difficulty  I  never  understood 
before.  There  are  three  tribes  of  Arabs  between  this 
and  Hebron,  and  they  must  be  severally  conciliated  by 
a  payment  of  money — each  taking  us  over  his  own 
territory.  Unless  they  are  actually  at  war,  Ali  (who 
knows  them  all)  says  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  pass- 
ing three  days  at  Petra.  The  only  expense  of  that  feat 
(extra)  is  about  £1  a  head  for  leave  to  pitch  our  tents 
there.  I  should  like  to  see  that  stronghold  of  Edom, 
dearly,  I  confess. 

nath  ;    it  has  seen  the   growth   of  Lateran,  of  the  Vatican,  and  of  the 

Moses ;  it  is  mentioned  by  Herodo-  Porta  del  Popolo  ;  and  this  vener- 

tus ;  Plato  sate  under  its  shadow :  able  pillar  (for  so  it  looks  from  a 

of  all  the  obelisk*  \\hk-h  sprang  up  distance)  is   now  almost   the   only 

around  it,  it  alone  has  kept  its  first  landmark  of  the  great  seat  of  the 

jx>sition.     One  by  one  it  has  seen  wisdom  of  Egypt."  Stanley's  '  Sinai 

its  sons  and  brothers  depart  to  great  an<l   Palestine   in   connexion  with 

destinies    elsewhere.      From   these  their  History,'  [London,  1856],  IN- 

gardens  came  the  obelisks  of  the  TRODUCTION,  pp.  xxxi,  xxxii. 


3i2  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"Miss  Webb  is  resolved  not  to  hurry  in  the  Holy 
Land,  and  really  considers  me  to  an  extent,  which  makes 
me  quite  ashamed  to  think  how  much  I  am  and  shall  be 
indebted  to  her.  She  insists  on  my  going  to  the  East 
of  the  Jordan,  drawing  everything,  and  even  prescribing 
the  line  of  march  ....  I  trust  my  health  will  be  spared 
to  me! 

"  Our  going  up  the  Nile  and  back  was  delightful 
indeed,  and  by  no  means  uneventful.  We  had  a  kind 
of  shipwreck  at  the  First  Cataract,  having  a  hole  knocked 
in  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  boats,  which  rilled  and  partly 
sunk,  damaging  stores,  &c.,  and  compelling  those  on 
board  to  come  off  in  the  jolly  boat.  Of  course  this 
occasioned  delay.  In  truth,  going  up  the  Cataract  in 
a  large  boat  is  really  a  dangerous  operation.  No  one  at 
last  remained  on  board  but  Mr.  Bayley  and  myself, 
besides  the  crew.  Rope  after  rope  cracked ;  and  if  the 
main  rope  of  all  had  given  way,  we  should  have  been 
lost.  Literally,  twenty-five  years  ago  the  Pasha's  boat 
was  lost,  and  all  hands  perished. 

"  In  fact  nothing  can  well  be  conceived  more  pic- 
turesque and  amusing,  or  at  the  same  time  worse 
managed.  You  are  compelled  to  put  your  boat  into  the 
hands  of  the  Cataract  pilots,  who  bring  their  men  ;  all 
behaved  so  badly  the  first  day,  that  Ali  was  forced  to 
have  six  of  the  daks  bastinadoed.  This  was  done  by  order 
of  the  Governor  of  Assouan  (Syene).  Next  day,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  manifest  difficulty,  as  many  as  400 
or  500  men  assembled  on  the  banks  to  haul  us  through. 
O  the  jabber  and  the  row  of  that  little  army  of  naked 
Nubians!  To  complete  the  scene,  they  quarrelled  and  at 
last  came  to  blows!  A  blood  feud  among  those  quaint 
boulders  would  have  been  a  scene  indeed.  To  pacify 
them  was  impossible ;  but  Ali  got  us  out  of  the  scrape 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  a  great  man. 

"With  perfect  calmness  he  called  for  pen  and  ink, 
went  on  board,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor  of 
Assouan  requesting  an  immediate  supply  of  soldiers,  for. 
that  the  Cataract  sheiks  were  just  going  to  blows.  The 
certain  prospect  of  their  villages  rased  to  the  ground,  and 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    313 

themselves  bastinadoed  or  worse,  wrought  like  magic.  .  . 
As  scon  as  it  was  discovered  what  he  was  doing,  the 
ringleaders  rushed  on  board,  and  wanted  to  prevail  on 
Ali  not  to  write.  He  wrote  though  as  calmly  as  possible  : 
then  gave  the  letter  to  one  of  his  own  men  ;  posted  him 
on  a  rock,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  on  the  way  to  Assouan, 
and  instructed  him  to  rush  off  without  stopping  the 
instant  he  saw  another  blow  struck.  .  The  storm  lulled 
at  once ;  and  the  remarkable  scene  followed  of  the  two 
boats  hauled  up  by  that  large  multitude.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  sight.  .  .  .  The  return  too,  when  we  shot  the 
Cataract  (as  it  is  called),  was  very  striking.  You  come 
tumbling  headlong,  as  it  seems,  down  a  roaring  current 
about  thirty  feet  wide  and  a  few  hundred  yards  long. 
One  touch  against  a  rock  would  consign  you  all  to  ruin. 
The  joy  of  all  the  men  when  you  are  through  (going  up 
as  well  as  coming  down)  is  laughable. 

"  And  what  shall  I  say  of  Karnac,  with  its  mighty 
ruins,  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  ancient  Thebes,  the 
vocal  Memnon,  and  so  on !  ...  I  must  describe  these 
sights  piecemeal,  as  I  write  to  one  or  the  other  of  you. 
I  often  thought  of  you  all  during  my  visits  to  these 
places,  especially,  I  think,  at  Thebes,  where  I  used  to 
go  on  shore  at  sunrise  with  Mr.  Bayley,  and  ride  or  walk 
from  Luxor  (where  our  boats  were  moored)  over  the 
vast  plain  where  Thebes  stood,  making  once  the  Colossi, 
at  another  time,  the  Memnonium,  at  another,  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings,  my  object.  I  drew  or  examined 
these  wonders  all  day ;  and  we  all  returned  at  sunset 
over  that  same  wondrous  plain.  These  rambles  I  never 
shall  forget  while  I  live.  And  O  the  interest  of  tran- 
scribing the  inscriptions !  On  the  legs  of  the  Colossus 
(the  vocal  Memnon  as  he  is  called)  I  saw  the  Emperor 
Hadrian's  name. 

"  But  I  must  not  go  on  further,  or  there  will  be  no 
room  for  anything  else 

"  With  kindest  love  to  all,  ever,  my  dearest  Rose, 

"  Your  loving  Brother, 

«J.  W.  B." 


J4  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 


To  CHARLES  LONGUET  HIGGINS,  ESQ. 

"  Cairo,  March  6,  1862. 

"  My  dearest  Charles, — 

"  I  never  advert  to  the  scenes  I  have  been  of  late  sur- 
veying without  seeing  first  one,  then  another,  stand  out 
in  magnificent  prominence.  Philse  ever  wins  me  by  its 
romantic  beauty — the  only  bit  of  Romance  in  Egypt : — 
Aboo  Simbel,  by  its  solemn  grandeur, — (a  rock  temple 
in  Nubia,  in  front  of  which  are  four  stupendous  colossal 
statues  of  Rameses  the  great): — Karnak,  by  its  archi- 
tectural magnificence — a  very  forest  of  gigantic  columns, 
many  of  which  belong  to  Temples  anterior  to  the  Exode : 
— the  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  by  their  historical  interest, — 
vast  halls  full  of  sculpture  and  hieroglyphics : — but  the 
Pyramids  are  after  all  the  greatest  wonder  of  all.  You 
have  seen  them,  so  I  need  not  describe.  Did  you  ascend 
the  greatest,  and  go  inside?  I  performed  both  feats, 
and  came  away  more  wonderstruck  than  when  I  stood 
at  the  foot.  But  who  can  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  great 
pyramid  of  Ghizeh  and  not  be  wonderstruck?  In  that 
huge  triangle,  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  might  hide  itself : 
while  from  its  apex  the  spire  of  Strasburgh  Cathedral 
might  swing  securely ! 

"  But  Cairo  itself  is  enough  to  interest  any  intelligent 
being — is  it  not  ?  We  have  been  in  all  about  five  weeks 
here,  and  I  think  we  have  seen  all  the  principal  sights. 
I  hope  you  visited  the  mosks.  With  a  Government 
order,  and  a  Janissary  at  one's  heels,  one  is  now  allowed 
to  inspect  any,  and  we  have  inspected  all  the  best.  They 
are  really  superb,  not  as  showy  objects,  but  as  grand 
specimens  of  Oriental  architecture.  The  prevailing 
feature  in  them  all  is  a  square  pillared  court,  with  a 
fountain  in  the  middle  (where  the  court  is  open).  The 
pillars  are  invariably  the  spoils  of  ancient  Temples  of 
• 9  time:  but  the  rest  of  the  inosk  is  purely  Eastern. 
The  walls  are  inlaid  with  black  and  white  marble  and 
porphyry.  Tiles  and  fresco  ornaments  cover  the  upper 

*  A  word  which  cannot  with  certainty  be  deciphered. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    315 

part.  The  floors  are  carpeted,  or  covered  with  mats. 
The  windows  delight  me  much.  They  are  painted:  the 
odd  feature  being  that  the  pattern  (generally  geometrical, 
or  looking  like  Arabesque  work  on  an  Indian  shawl) — 
is  circumscribed  not  by  lead,  as  with  us,  but  with  white 
pierced  stone,  which  gives  a  peculiar  lace-like  effect  to 
those  small  elevated  windows,  which  is  very  pleasing. . . . 
The  Bazaars  of  Cairo  are  also  very  interesting :  but  in- 
comparably the  woxf  curious  thing  here  is  the  Roman 
fortress.  It  is  about  two  miles  off,  and  was  the  central 
point  of  }'.</>/ jjfian  Babylon — the  Babylon  of  St.  Peter's 
2nd  Ep.  I  do  believe.  The  Christian  Church  there 
stands  at  the  top  of  the  ancient  Roman  staircase,  and 
adjoining  to  what  is  still  a  Temple  of  Diana !  And  over 
the  door  is  a  Greek  inscription  of  the  time  of  Diocletian 
which  I  have  copied — and  very  curious  it  is  ....  (I  have 
copied  so  many  inscriptions !) 

"  To  Heliopolis  we  have  been  twice,  and  each  time 
with  rare  pleasure.  It  stands  in  the  land  of  Goshen, — 
unmistakeably.  What  a  wondrous  spot!  It  scarcely 
yields  in  interest  to  a  scene  we  visited  on  Monday, 
namely  the  gathering  place  of  the  Israelites  previous  to 
their  starting  for  Canaan.  The  locality  is  quite  un- 
mistakeable,  I  think :  and  I  am  little  disposed  to  believe 
a  lame  story.  You  will  recognise  the  spot  on  the  map, 
if  I  remind  you  that  Cairo  would  be  its  northerly  point, 
the  Nile  its  western  boundary,  and  the  hills  of  Mokattum 
its  eastern.  The  southern  line  being  drawn  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Wady  el  Tyh,  or  of  the  Wandering. 

"  Your  loving  Brother, 

"J.  W.  B." 


To  MRS.  HE^RY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Suez,  March  15,  1862. 

"  My  dearest  Carry,— I  think  I  rather  owe  a  letter  to 
yourself  than  to  any  other  member  of  the  family ;  so  I 
will  avail  myself  of  a  halt  at  this  delightful  Hotel  to  tell 
you  how  we  have  fared  hitherto. 


n6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

O 

"  We  left  Cairo  with  AH  on  Saturday  the  9th  at  mid- 
day, some  of  us  (I  for  one)  mounting  our  camels  at  the 
door  of  Shepheard's  Hotel,  and  proceeding  through  Old 
Cairo  towards  the  Desert.  I  suspect  this  is  the  Barneses 
of  Exodus,  from  which  the  Israelites  journeyed.  At 
Besatin,  at  the  edge  of  the  Desert,  we  met  the  ladies  and 
our  Arabs,  and  set  forth  as  follows : — Miss  Webb  on  a 
pony ;  the  other  seven  on  camels :  seventeen  Arabs  of 
the  tribes  of  Towara  and  Haiatat  with  their  sheik  (////- 
larrak) ;  a  cook,  two  men  servants,  and  a  groom,  some 
on  foot,  some  on  camels,  and  a  heap  of  luggage.  In  fact, 
we  are  thirty-one  souls,  and  our  caravan  consists  of 
thirty-five  camels,  a  foal,  a  horse,  and  a  donkey 

"  We  are  woke  at  4 ;  at  6  we  breakfast,  and  at  7.30  we 
are  all  on  our  way.  At  1 2  we  halt  for  -J-  of  an  hour  for 
luncheon,  and  at  3  we  halt  for  the  night.  The  six  tents 
are  pitched  in  less  than  \  an  hour,  and  by  5.30  our 
dinner  is  ready.  Then  the  servants  dine.  At  8  we 
have  tea,  and  then  the  servants  have  theirs.  We  then 
have  prayers  and  go  to  bed. 

"Miss  Webb  and  one  of  her  maids  have  one  tent: 
Miss  Fanny  and  another  maid,  another;  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bayley  one ;  I  have  another  ;  Ali  and  the  courier  sleep  in 
the  saloon  tent,  and  some  in  the  kitchen.  We  have  each 
of  us  a  portmanteau  and  bag,  a  bundle  of  wraps,  and 
well-crammed  saddle-bags.  Each  has  an  iron  bedstead, 

and  the  dragoman  provides  bedding Everything  I 

have  brought  is  most  useful ;  and  the  bag  the  dear  chil- 
dren gave  I  carry  so  regularly  everywhere  that  Miss 
Fanny  calls  it  my  harness.  It  is  invaluable. 

"  I  like  camel  riding  immensely,  and  could  go  on 
camel-back  to  the  world's  end.  It  is  a  hundred  times 
pleasanter  and  less  fatiguing  than  a  horse  or  donkey. 
As  for  getting  off,  I  can  do  it  without  waiting  for  the 
animal  to  come  down;  and  when  weary  I  sit  side- 
saddle. I  can  write  and  read,  and  do  all  but  draw  on 
the  creature's  back.  It  is  unfortunately  only  too  easy 
to  sleep  as  well — which  I  must  avoid.  I  am,  thank  GOD, 
quite  well :  and  we  are  all  most  prosperous. 

"  But  we  have  had  our  adventures  already.     A  blood 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    317 

feud  exists  between  the  tribe  we  are  with,  and  another 
which  it  was  feared  we  should  encounter  on  the  third 
day.  By  consequence  we  took  a  <l<-fonr,  and  came 
through  a  wild  rocky  valley  of  exceeding  grandeur  and 
sublimity — a  branch  of  the  Wady  Ramlieh.  which  has 
not  been  taken  by  any  traveller  for  six  years.  Blood 
would  have  flowed  had  we  met ;  so  we  had  spies  posted 
on  every  crag ;  and  when  it  was  over  we  were  told  of 
our  danger.  But  the  strangest  accident  happened  to  us 
on  Thursday  night.  We  were  encamped  at  C  (reference 
to  a  rough  tracing  of  the  route).  At  our  rear  were  the 
Gebel  Attaka1,  or  Towarak,  a  noble  chain  of  purple 
mountains,  and  the  Red  Sea  was  within  twenty  yards  of 
our  tents.  Doubtless  the  Israelites  saw  that  locality, 

wherever  their  crossing  place  may  be  fixed Well, 

there  was  a  little  wind  at  sunset,  and  at  10  it  blew  con- 
siderably. Still  I  was  so  weary  that  I  slept  like  a  top 
till  \  past  i,  when  a  shrill  cry  from  Miss  Webb  woke 
me — roused  us  all.  Her  lent  had  been  blown  flat  tlofn. 
It  was  in  fact  blowing  great  guns,  and  I  expected  every 
minute  to  see  all  our  six  tents  scattered.  You  may 
imagine  the  consternation  in  the  dark.  However,  with 
about  twenty  men  we  soon  righted  the  tent,  and  knocked 
in  the  pegs  afresh  of  all:  but  to  stand  the  storm  was 
hopeless :  so  we  dressed  as  well  as  we  could,  and  packed 
in  double  quick  time,  and  divided  ourselves  into  two 
companies.  All  and  I,  with  some  Arabs,  conducted  the 
ladies  and  servants  to  Suez ;  the  rest  staid  behind  to 
look  after  the  property  and  follow  when  it  was  day.  So 
at  3  we  set  off — I  on  foot,  carrying  at  Miss  Webb's 
request  the  bul/Jindt  (! !),  she  on  her  donkey,  and  the  rest 
on  camels.  It  was  a  very  solemn  walk, — the  Gebel 

1  "  I  have  at  last,  as  far  as  mor-  sage"  [of  the  Red  Sea]  "combines  in 

tal  eyes  can  see  it,  seen  the  passage  representing  this  as  the  impediment 

of  the  Eed  Sea.  .  .  .  High  above  which  prevented  the  return  of  the 

the  whole  scene  towered  the  Gebel  Israelites  into  Egypt  when  Pharaoh 

'Attaka,  the  '  Mountain  of  Deliver-  appeared  on  their  rear.    It  was  this 

ance,'   a   truly  magnificent   range,  which  '  shut  them  in.' " — Stanley's 

which,  after  all,  is  the  one  feature  '  Sinai    and    Palestine  '    [London  : 

of  the  scene  unchanged  and  unmis-  1856],  pp.  65,  66. 
takeable.     Every  theory  of  the  pas- 


318  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

Towarak  or  Attaka  showing  like  a  grey  shadow  on  our 
left,  and  before  us  the  level  horizon.  The  ground  was 
seamed  with  countless  camel  tracks,  in  which  I  was 
careful  to  tread  to  avoid  a  fall.  The  sun  was  invisible, 
and  the  grey  morning  melted  very  slowly  into  daylight. 
At  7i  we  reached  Suez,  and  really  I  was  glad  to  rest  on 
a  sofa,  where  sleep  overtook  me  before  I  was  aware. 

"  Our  future  intended  route  you  know,  I  think,  in 
outline.  We  sleep  to-night  (Sat.)  in  our  tents,  about 
£  of  an  hour's  walk  from  Suez ;  and  next  day  (alas  that 
it  should  be  Sunday  !)  halt  at  Ayn  Mousa  (Moses'  Wells). 
In  ten  days  we  hope  to  reach  Sinai  and  thence  make  our 
way  to  Akaba  (Ezion  Geber).  There  we  hope  to  find 
the  sheik  of  Petra  to  give  us  camels  and  escort  for  Petra 
— else,  we  go  straight  to  Hebron.  But  as  soon  as  I  reach 
Jerusalem  (D.V.)  some  of  you  will  hear  from  me  again. 
....  Are  my  darlings  all  well  ?  I  think  of  them  daily. 
Embrace  them  for  me — and  tell  Lady  Dundee2  that 
I  would  give  the  world  to  hug  her  just  now. 

"  Ever,  dearest  Carry,  your  loving  Brother, 

"J.  W.  B." 


To  THE  REVEREND  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"  Akaba  (the  Elath  of  Scripture),  Ap.  9,  1862. 

"My  dearest  Rose, — I  have  been  sending  to  dearest 
Helen  a  general  sketch  of  my  movements  since  we 
reached  Suez,  Friday,  i4th  March.  Let  me  fill  up  some 
of  the  details  in  a  letter  to  your  dear  self. 

"  Everything  has  been  hitherto  most  prosperous,  and  I 
am  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  desert  travelling  is 
even  delightful.  Of  course  the  tent  is  but  a  makeshift ; 
and  rising  at  4  is  a  tiresome  trick ;  and  there  is  little 
fun  in  passing  eight  hours  consecutively  on  consecutive 
days,  on  the  back  of  a  camel.  But  it  is  to  me  a  great 
point  to  be  introduced  to  marvellous  scenes  such  as 
those  we  have  gone  through,  and  to  be  for  ever  treading 

*  A  jocose  name  for  his  niece  Gertrude,   Mrs.   Henry  John   Kose's 
youngest  daughter. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    319 

in  the  footsteps  of  the  Israelites,  and  to  see  the  scenes 
they  certainly  looked  on.  Even  now,  we  are  on  their 
track,  for  they  came  to  Ezion  Geber  and  Elatk  (which  is 
Akaba)  on  their  final  way  to  the  Promised  Land. 

"  The  points  considered  as  almost  identified,  after  leav- 
ing Suez,  are  Ayn  Moussa.  Marah,  Elim,  the  encampment 
by  the  Red  Sea  (Num.  xxxiii.  10),  which  is  a  fixed 
locality  beyond  all  doubt,  and  a  glorious  point  to  fix 
also  :  then  Sinai,  and  the  way  thither  (which  we  certainly 
came),  and  lastly  the  spot  which  we  are  at  now.  But 
since  the  people  of  GOD  wandered  about  the  peninsula 
for  thirty-eight  years,  one  cannot  doubt  that  they  were 
acquainted  with  almost  every  Wady3,  and  had  encamped 
beneath  almost  every  mountain.  Thus  all  the  ground 
seems  invested  with  a  kind  of  sacred  interest.  From 
this  place  forward  one  especially  feels  the  influence  of 
association.  With  Hebron  begins  the  Promised  Land 
itself. 

"  We  are  likely  to  have  a  superfluity  of  protectors.  Two 
of  the  Petra  Sheiks  are  arrived,  and  the  Sheik  of  the 
Allowm  tribe  and  his  brother  (who  own  the  territory 
from  Akaba  to  Hebron)  are  all  in  our  camp.  We  crack 
our  humble  jokes  together  daily,  and  are  on  very  friendly 
terms.  I  was  writing  in  a  grove  of  palms  when  the 
Petra  Sheik  entered,  lay  down  on  the  ground,  and  began 
to  smoke.  I  bungled  out  a  sentence,  on  which  he  began 
enumerating  all  the  things  he^could  show  us,  the  sik  (or 
ravine  which  leads  to  Petra),  Aroons  tomb,  Wddy  filoussa, 
and  so  on.  All  being  now  settled  about  our  going  to 
Petra,  last  night  (loth  April)  Imbarrak  (the  Tawarah 
Sheik,  who  brought  us  from  Cairo  to  Akaba)  took  leave 
of  us  in  the  moonlight  with  his  thirty  camels,  and  re- 
traced his  steps  to  Sinai. 

3  "  It   is   necessary  to   use   this  the    mountain   torrents    or   winter 

Arabic  name  (w;idy),  because  there  rains  for  a  few  months  or  weeks  in 

is  no  English  word  which  exactly  the  year — such  is  the  general  idea 

corresponds  to  the  idea   expressed  of  an  Arabian  '  wady,'  whether  in 

by  it.     A  hollow,  a  valley,  a  de-  the  Desert  or  in  Syria." — Stanley's 

pression  —  more  or  less  deep,  or  «  £t-BO»  and  Palestine'  [1856], p.  15. 
wide,  or  long — worn  or  washed  by 


^520  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUEGON. 

\j 

"April  29.  We  arrived  in  Jerusalem  I  an  hour  ago, 
and  until  Mr.  Finn  comes  in,  I  am  writing  these 
few  lines  in  his  office.  We  achieved  Petra  with  great 
effort,  passing  four  and  a-half  days  there:  including  Good 
Friday  and  Easter  Day.  We  ascended  Mount  Hor  also. 
The  interest — the  wild  wonder — of  those  localities,  sur- 
passes my  powers  of  description.  Unhappily,  I  was 
far  from  well  the  day  I  reached  Petra,  so  that  I  lost  an 
afternoon  lying  on  the  grass  among  the  wild  Arabs, 
dozing  away  the  time.  But  I  made  a  great  effort, 
walked  about  from  morning  till  night,  and  drew  a  great 
deal  every  day  we  were  there.  The  view  from  Mount 
Hor  is  affectingly  grand,  and  the  very  shape  of  the 
mountain-top  reduces  it  to  a  certainty  that  we  were  in 
the  very  spot  where  Aaron  surrendered  his  soul  to  GOD  4. 
It  was  deeply  affecting,  and  gave  a  reality  to  Scripture 
such  as  I  have  never  experienced  before. 

"  As  for  Petra.  it  is  too  much  to  describe.  It  passes  all 
expectation.  Please  GOD,  I  will  some  day — sitting  by 
your  dear  fireside — tell  you  and  Carry  and  the  beloved 
chicks  all  about  it.  But  it  seemed  to  me  passing  strange 
to  be  wandering  alone  with  a  single  attendant,  among 
wild  ravines,  where  one  was  at  every  instant  falling  in 
with  lawless  men,  each  armed  with  a  sword  and  a  gun, 
who  yet  sat  down  by  my  side,  watched  me  draw,  and 
were  as  peaceable  as  English  labourers.  However,  I 
must  be  candid  with  you.  I  attribute  our  safety,  under 
GOD,  to  oui'  excellent  dragoman  (who  is  Miss  Webb's 
bete  noire}.  ...  To  explain  what  1  mean,  Sir  Capel  Moly- 
neux,  who  was  there  with  a  large  party  two  weeks 
before  us,  was  so  impressed  with  the  danger  of  visiting 
Petra  (from  the  constant  feuds  they  witnessed,  &c.),  that 

"  Mount  Hor  is  one  of  the  very  'the  mountain"  (Hor).     Num.  xx. 

few  spots  connected  with  the  wan-  23.    (2)  The  statement  of  Josephus 

derings  of  the  Israelites,  which  ad-  (Ant.  IV.  iv.  7),  that  Aaron's  death 

mite  of  no  reasonable  doubt occurred  on  a  high  mountain  enclos- 

The  proofs  of  the  identity  of  '  Gebel  ing  Petra.     (3)  The  modern  name 

Haroun,'  as  it  is  now  called,  with  and    traditional    sanctity    of    the 

Mount   Hor,   are     (i)  The   situa-  mountain  as  connected  with  Aaron's 

tion  'by  the  coast  of  the  land  of  tomb."   Stanley's  'Sinai and  Pales- 

Edom,'  where    it   is  emphatically  tine'  [1856],  p.  87, footnote  i. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    321 

he  literally  sent  a  dromedary  across  the  Desert  to  stop 
us  and  deter  us  from  our  projected  visit 

"  I  have  written  some  account  of  Hebron  to  our 
beloved  Racks5.  The  journey  between  Petra  and  Heb- 
ron is  of  exceeding  interest  and  struck  my  fancy  much, 
as  it  would  have  struck  yours.  At  first,  one  is  in  the 
Arabah,  or  great  valley, — plain  rather, — which  forms  a 
high  road  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Red  Sea ;  and 
on  first  leaving  it,  one  is  in  a  dreary  wilderness  (that  of 
Sin  or  Zin,  if  I  remember  right).  But  from  the  instant 
one  sees  the  pass  of  Sufdh  (ZephatK)  before  one,  all  is 
delightful.  That  is  beyond  a  doubt  the  '  way  of  the 
spies,'  the  way  by  which  Israel  tried  to  force  their 
passage  and  were  repulsed.  Palestine  begins  to  dawn 
on  you  from  that  spot,  and  a  more  instructive  sight  can 
hardly  be  imagined. 

"  Ever,  dearest  Rose,  your  most  loving  Brother, 

"  J.  W.  B." 
To  MRS.  HIGGINS. 
"  Akaba  (the  ancient  Ezion  Geber),  April  10,  1862. 

" It  seems  to  me  a  good  long  time  since  I  wrote 

to  you,  and  I  am  sure  it  has  not  been  because  I  have 
not  thought  of  you,  for  I  think  of  you  daily.  Let  me 
devote  a  few  moments  of  leisure  to  you  now  ;  for  I  have 
an  immense  deal  to  tell  you. 

"  I  am  writing  under  the  shade  of  some  Palm  trees  in  a 
delicious  little  grove  at  Akaba,  at  the  end  of  the  gulf 
of  that  name — the  N.E.  extremity  of  the  Red  Sea — only 
Miss  Webb  is  writing  on  a  mat  at  my  side.  Among  the 
trees  a  party  of  Bedawin  Arabs  are  in  loud  altercation, 
and  presided  over  by  their  chief — Mohammed, — who  (now 
that  old  Husseyn  is  dead)  is  the  sheik  of  the  whole 
tribe  of  the  Allouins.  It  is'too  hot  to  go  and  draw,  and 
a  letter  to  you  all  is  just  the  thing  for  me  to  do.  Let 
me  explain  all  that  has  occurred  since  I  wrote  last, 
which  was  at  Suez.  We  pursued  the  usual  route, 
certainly  treading  close  in  the  steps  of  the  Israelites, — 

5  A  comical  name  given  in  the  family  to  his  niece,  Mr.  Rose's  eldest 
daughter. 

VOL.    I.  Y 


•-- 


-  _  '£_-.;•  -  :~-r  :  :•". 
ICBBM 


I ;    — ••  I 


mM 
ax  C;  at  jFistbeCoo- 


_-   i   -   :it    rril     >:-!.-    :: 
'  -     ~  J  if  •' 


1  -  si^y 


^: 
_~ .-.-  L--:  - 


7    :-    ' 


the 

will  I  km-  defigtt 
I  aki 


---      :_         : 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    323 


mountain  itself  from  H.  which  strange  to  say 

•  <  this  day.  Down  the  romantic  or  radker 
sublimely  savage  Wd»1y  Liza,  I  also  got  two  walks,  and  I 
climbed  the  lofty  Jr&l  Katfariue.  I  realty  feel  quite  at 
home  at  Sinai,  which  is  a  proud  and  a  strange 

••  From  the  awful  scene  we  came  away  to 
taking  the  W&dy  MotatM  (or  written  vaL- 
I  have  copied  many  of  the  inseriptkinfi,  and  an 
that  I  have  the  cine  to  their  real  history.    They  are  the 
writing  of  ancient  pilgrims9  coming  owu 
scenes.    Here  we  fell  in  with  a  Major  ~ 
knew  our  dear  father,  and  had  spent  an 
Osnaburgh  91  He  asked  after  you ! 

also  did  he  entertain  us,  with  eapricotm 
He  is  mining  for  turquoises  where  (as  the 
shew)  tite  ancient  Egyptian  kin^s  had  their 
miaes ;  and  he  shewed  us  many  of  the  dwellings  of  those 
ancient  men.  It  was  ahoy  the  i  a  most  picturesque 
incident  in  our  travels, 

~  We  came  out  on  the  sea  at  last — the  sea  of  the  Gulf  of 
Akaba — passed  the  Hm4i*r  .Atttmm  \  or  heap  which  indi- 


retam  of  tfee 
'  il.    -.  -"_•  . 

two  «r  three    m\Hamt  «Mdi  giw       the  eatt  of 
in  tite   Wadj   Swifidi.  in  it»   re-       pieoo.    of   &•          |      I],   -they 

ih». 

*  Bean  Staaley  dneoBses  tie 
aerip*i»  ia  tie"  Widy  Mofcatteb       tbe  true  < 
onpp.6i.6;  of  theiS56ed.af  iii      kage  rtwe  «f  < 

MJ] 


- 


324  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

cates  the  boundary  of  the  territory  of  the  Tawarah  and 
Alouin  tribes  ;  and  finally  on  Saturday  reached  Akaba, 
a  poor  place,  but  a  beautiful  locality  to  my  eye  -.  Here 
I  have  made  several  drawings. 

"  We  are  much  disappointed  to  find  that  all  chance  of 
reaching  Jerusalem  by  Easter  is  at  an  end ;  but  it  is 
something  to  find  (as  this  day  we  have  done),  that  we 
shall  certainly  see  Petra.  The  day  before  yesterday,  on 
returning  from  a  walk,  I  heard  to  my  joy  that  Sheik 
Mohammed  was  in  my  tent.  I  entered  and  found  a 
most  picturesque  group  assembled.  On  my  rug  lay  the 
great  man  in  a  scarlet  pelisse  with  gold  lace  and  light 
blue  trowsers,  encumbered  with  pistols,  sabres,  and  so 
on.  He  was  smoking  and  resting  his  elbow  on  my  roll 
of  wraps.  Ali  is  on  one  side  (the  Dragoman),  and  on  the 
other  Imbarrak  (a  sheik  of  the  Tawarah  who  has  ac- 
companied our  caravan  from  Cairo).  In  front,  the  guard 
of  Akaba.  How  he  was  wrapped  up !  But  so  are  all 
the  Allouins,  with  cloth  veils  over  their  heads,  and  two 
cords  to  keep  it  in  its  place.  I  told  him  through  Ali 
that  if  we  were  in  England  I  would  entertain  him 
hospitably,  but  that  my  property  among  the  Allouins 
was  so  exceedingly  inconsiderable,  that  I  really  could  not 
pretend  to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  He  laughed  at  the 

heights  of  Gilead;  just  as  the  tra-  lated  by  Martin:  Edinburgh,  1857) 

veller  now  sees  the  '  Hadjar  Alouin'  p.  464. 

— the  pile  of  stones  that  denotes  the  *  "  'Akaba  is  a  wretched  village, 

boundary  of  the  Alouin  and  of  the  shrouded  in  a  palm-grove,   at   the 

Towara  tribes  at  the  head  of  the  north  end  of  the  Gulf.  ...  It  stands 

Gulf  of  Akaba."   '  Sinai  and  Pales-  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Elath, — 

tine,'  p.  319.    There  was,  however,  '  The  Palm  Trees,'  so  called  from 

no  "  mistaking "  in  the  matter.     It  the  grove.     Its  situation,  however, 

was  expressly  called  "  an  altar"  by  is  very  striking,  looking  down  the 

the  persons  who  built  it  (Josh.  xxii.  beautiful  gulf,  with  its  jagged  ranges 

2 3),  and,  although  not  built  for  actual  on  each  Bide." — '  Sinai  and  Palex- 

saerificial  purposes,  it  was  designed  tine,'  p.  84.     Of  Ezion-geber,  which 

"  to   serve   as  a  witness    in    after  Burgon,  as  we  see  from  the  date  of 

times  that  the  tribes  on  the  East  of  his  letter,  identified  with   Akaba, 

Jordan  had  a  part  in  Jehovah,  and  Stanley  says;    "There    is    nothing 

in  His  altar  which  was  at  His  taber-  to  fix  the  site  of  Ezion-geber,  '  the 

nacle  in  Canaan."     See  vv.  24,  26,  Giant's  Backbone.' " 
37,  and  'Jfeil  on  Joshua*  (trans- 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    325 

joke.  Then  I  gave  him  dear  Charles's  message  to  his 
father,  and  said  how  sorry  he  would  be  to  hear  that 
Sheik  Husseyn  is  dead.  He  shrugged  up  his  shoulders, 
and  said  that  'no  one  could  help  it.  ...  I  should  have 
dearly  enjoyed  joining  in  the  conversation  which  fol- 
lowed, and  which  was  very  animated.  Ali  explained  to 
me  that  the  wretched  man  was  laying  a  plan  for  stop- 
ping and  robbing  all  who  come  by  this  way,  as  a 
punishment  to  the  Sultan  for  sending  the  Hadj  (or 
pilgrim  caravan)  by  steam  direct  to  Mecca,  instead  of 
sending  them  round  this  way. 

"  There  is  not  much  to  be  done  here — but  I  have  done 
and  drawn  all  I  could.  One  of  the  two  Sheiks  of  Petra 
is  arrived,  and  we  take  Mohammed  and  bis  brother  all 
the  way  to  Hebron  (and  to  Petra  of  course),  as  an  ad- 
ditional escort  and  protection.  No  party  ever  travelled, 
surely,  with  more  comforts  and  conveniences  than  we  do. 

••  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  kindness  I  experience, 
nor  how  happy  I  have  been.  My  health  is  perfect  We 
do  but  travel  eight  hours  a  day.  The  rest  shall  be  added 
D.V.  at  Jerusalem. 

"  Jerusalem,  30  Ap, — Well,  dearest,  we  achieved  Petra 
gloriously,  and  I  drew  considerably,  though  alas !  I  felt 
•m  KY//  there.  It  was  strange,  passing  Good  Friday 
and  Easter  Day  in  that  wild  region.  On  Easter  Monday 
ft.  and  encamped  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Hor  (which 
however  we  had  ascended,  on  our  way  to  Petra),  and  so 
made  our  way  across  the  Araba,  until  we  reached  the 
pass  of  Svfdh  (Zephath) — which  is  the  ancient  road — the 
road  by  which  Solomon's  caravans  brought  the  wealth  of 
India  (the  •  apes '  and  the  '  peacocks ')  into  Palestine,  and 
where  had  been  also  certainly  'the  vay  of  the  spies*. ' 
From  this  spot  forward  all  is  delight  and  wonder,  the 
frontier-land  of  Palestine,  exactly  the  scenery  of  English 
Downs ;  and  as  you  advance,  it  is  the  scenery  of  Devon- 
shire. David  at  Ziph.  Maon,  and  Carmel,  (we  saw  them 
alt,  and  they  are  called  by  the  same  names  to  the  present 
day !)  would  not  have  known  the  difference,  had  he 
been  simply  transported  into  some  of  the  Devonshire 

*  See  Num.  nL  L 


326  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUBGON. 

valleys.  Trees  there  are  NONE  ;  but  shrubs  and  flowers 
abound ;  and  the  whole  soil  is  gray  stone  cropping  out 
among  faded  grass,  the  effect  of  which  is  lovely,  especi- 
ally if,  here  and  there,  a  little  patch  of  cultivated  land 
comes  to  view. 

"  From  Hebron  (where  we  spent  two  days — How  it  did 
rain!)  we  came  on  yesterday  hither,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  rides  I  ever  took  in  my  life.  We  had  been  on 
camel  back  for  fifty  days,  having  come  some  800  miles, 
which  made  a  horse  a  pleasant  change.  At  5  in  the 
evening,  when  (after  the  delicious  view  of  Bethlehem, 
and  after  inspecting  Rachel's  tomb)  we  got  to  the 
convent  of  Mar  Elias,  I  saw  Jerusalem  before  me.  I 
thought  I  should  have  fallen  off  my  horse.  But  it  is 
at  first  a  sadly  disappointing  place.  More  of  this  in 
my  next.  Please  address  to  me  'Post  Office,  Beyrout,' 
immediately  on  receiving  this. 

"  Your  most  loving  Brother, 

"J.  W.  B." 

To  MRS.  HENRY  JOHN  ROSE. 

"Petra,  Easter  Day  [April  20],  1862. 

"  My  dearest  Carry, — You  will  I  daresay  have  kindly 
speculated  '  where  John  is  passing  Easter  Day ' ;  or 
rather  you  will  have  connected  him  with  Jerusalem  for 
some  days  past.  But  we  were  delayed  at  Akaba  (Ezion 
Geber,  or  rather  Elath)  for  a  week,  and,  other  hindrances 
conspiring,  we  found  ourselves  slowly  pacing  into  this 
wondrous  city,  on  our  descent  from  Mount  Hor,  on 
Wednesday  last.  We  have  been  here  ever  since;  and 
expect  to-morrow  morning  at  4  o'clock  to  be  up,  and  at 
7  off"  for  Jerusalem,  or  rather  for  Hebron. 

"  I  hardly  know  how  to  give  you  any  idea  of  all  I 
have  been  seeing  for  many  days  past,  and  above  all  of 
Petra,  which  is  the  most  astonishing  and  interesting 
place  I  ever  visited,  and  may  well  stand  alone.  Nature 
has  done  wonders  for  it,  but  Man  has  availed  himself  of 
every  hint,  and  turned  it  into  a  triumph.  The  approach, 
between  steep  cliffs  which  almost  beetle  overhead,  at 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    327 


the  end  of  a  mile  turns  you  out  upon  a  rock-temple  of 
exquisite  beauty.  The  Wady  Moussa  (or  torrent-bed  of 
Moses4),  which  gives  its  name  to  the  entire  locality, 
then  guides  you  through  the  town  past  the  theatres  and 
countless  tombs,  and  not  a  few  Roman  temples,  escaping 
through  a  gorge  in  the  cliffs  on  the  west.  Sandstone 
cliffs  enclose  the  site  of  this  wondrous  City,  lofty, 
picturesque,  and  in  colour  unrivalled.  But  there  is 
nothing  rosy 5  in  Petra  by  any  means. 

"  We  have  spent  four  delightful  days  here,  wandering 
about  and  drawing  as  much  as  one  pleased.  We  came 
from  Akaba  with  both  the  Skeiks  of  Petra,  the  brother 


*  "  Before  you  opens  a  deep  cleft 
bet  ween  rocks  of  red  sands  tone  rising 
perpendicularly  to  the  height  of 
one,  two,  or  three  hundred  feet. 
This  is  the  Slk,  or  '  cleft';  through 
this  flows — if  one  may  use  the  ex- 
pression— the  dry  torrent,  which, 
rising  in  the  mountains  half  an  hour 
hence,  gives  the  name  by  which  alone 
Petra  is  now  known  among  the  Arabs 
— Wady  Moussa.  '  For,' — so  Skeyh 
Mohammed  tells  us — '  as  surely  as 
Gebel  Harun  (the  Mountain  of 
Aaron)  is  so  called  from  the  burial- 
place  of  Aaron,  is  Wady  Mousa 
(the  Valley  of  Moses)  so  called  from 
the  cleft  being  made  by  the  rod  of 
Moses  when  he  brought  the  stream 
through  into  the  valley  beyond.'  " — 
Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine  ' 
[1856],  pp.  89,  90. 

8  He  alludes,  no  doubt,  to  his  own 
description  of  the  cliffs  of  Petra  in  his 
Prize  Poetn  (line  125  to  135) — "not 
virgin  white  .  .  .  not  saintly  grey," 
&c.,  &c. 
"  But  rosy-red, — as  if  the  blush  of 

dawn 
Which  first  beheld  them  were  not 

yet  withdrawn : 
The  hues  of  youth  upon  a  brow  of  woe, 


Which  men  call'd  old  two  thousand 

years  ago  ! 
Match    me    such   marvel,  save    in 

Eastern  clime, — 
A    rose-red    city — half    as    old    as 

Time !  " 

Travellers  do  not  seem  to  agree 
entirely  as  to  the  colour  of  the  rocks 
at  Petra.  Robinson,  as  quoted  by 
Burgon  in  a  foot-note  to  his  Poem, 
says  that  they  present  "  not  a  dead 
mass  of  dull  monotonous  red ;  but 
an  endless  variety  of  bright  and 
living  hues,  from  the  deepest  crim- 
son to  the  softest  pink."  Dean 
Stanley  on  the  other  hand  says  : 
"  All  the  describers  have  spoken  of 
bright  hues — scarlet,  sky-blue,  or- 
ange, &c.  Had  they  taken  courage 
to  say  instead,  'dull  crimson,  indigo, 
yellow,  and  purple,'  their  account 
would  have  lost  something  in  effect, 

but  gained  much  in  truth A 

gorgeous,  though  dull  crimson, 
streaked  and  suffused  with  purple, 
these  are  the  two  predominant  col- 
ours,— '  ferruginous,'  perhaps,  they 
might  best  be  called, — and  on  the 
face  of  the  rocks  the  only  colours." 
'Sinai  and  Palestine '  [1856],  p.  88. 


328  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

of  the  Sheik  of  the  Allouins,  and  indeed  a  lot  of  semi- 
official fellows:  but  the  chief  Sheik  of  Petra  is  my 
friend — Harb  (i.e.  war]  Ben  Gazeh.  A  more  thorough 
gentleman  I  never  saw  in  my  life.  He  went  with  us  to 
the  top  of  Mount  Hor,  where  a  singular  scene  occurred. 
He  was  forced  to  pay  a  kind  of  blackmail  himself!  He 
paid  it  with  great  dignity  (3  f.),  seeing  guns  levelled, 
&c.,  &c.,  but  reminded  the  miscreants  that  he  has  the 
power  to  sweep  them  all  from  the  mountain. 

"  O  my  dearest  Carry,  that  view  from  Mount  Hor, — 
what  a  magnificent  and  affecting  spectacle  it  is!  We 
read  aloud  the  account  of  Aaron's  death,  and  surveyed 
the  sight  which  he  must  have  contemplated  with  his 
dying  eyes;  turning  ours,  you  may  be  sure,  in  the 
direction  of  Palestine.  .  .  . 

"  Ever,  dearest  Carry,  your  loving  Brother, 

"J.W.  B." 

To  Miss  GERTRUDE  ROSE. 

"Jerusalem,  May  4,  1862. 

"My  dear  beloved  little  Sister6, — I  will  not  go  to  bed 
until  I  have  written  you  a  letter,  as  a  proof  that  I 
remember  you  on  your  precious  Birthday.  How  I 
should  rejoice  in  giving  you  a  tremendous  kiss!  and 
I  would  not  promise  to  keep  myself  to  one — by  any 
means. 

"  We  have  been  very  busy,  since  we  arrived,  in  seeing 
the  sights  of  Jerusalem — and  as  a  first  step  we  ex- 
changed pur  tents  for  a  house — not  a  very  smart  one : 
but  still  infinitely  pleasanter  than  being  under  canvas. 
...  I  think  I  have  enjoyed  most  the  walk  to  Bethany 
over  the  Mount  of  Olives.  You  would  be  astonished  at 
the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  landscape  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Mount.  The  Dead  Sea  is  seen,  with  the  glorious 
mountains  of  Moab  soaring  up  behind  it,  while  all  the 
foreground  is  decked  with  exquisite  colours,  and  at  your 
feet  lies  the  quiet  little  village  of  Bethany.  We  were 
shewn  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  the  house  of  Simon,  of 

4  Hia  niece,  Mrs.  Henry  John  Rose's  youngest  daughter. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    329 

Martha,  and  so  on ;  but  it  is  the  view  of  the  landscape 
which  so  delighted  me :  for  that,  at  least,  is  genuine,  and 
must  be  the  very  same  which  so  often  cheered  the  eyes 
of  the  Son  of  Man. 

"  The  Garden  of  Gethsemane  is  a  disappointing,  dis- 
enchanting place7:  being  merely  a  few  of  the  oldest 
trees  walled  in,  the  ground  being  planted  with  roses  and 
potherbs.  This,  as  you  know,  is  just  beyond  the  brook 
Cedron. 

"  Yesterday  we  visited  the  fort  of  Gihon,  the  valley  of 
Hinnom,  the  potter's  field,  the  fort  and  village  of 
Siloain,  and  many  old  tombs,  the  Armenian  Convent, 
the  Syrian  Church,  the  House  of  Caiaphas,  the  scene  of 
the  Last  Supper,  and  so  on.  This  will  give  you  a 
notion  of  the  things  you  are  taken  to  see.  Of  course, 
one  cannot  believe  scarcely  anything, — not  even  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  itself.  Still  it  is  deeply 
interesting  to  be  shewn  spots  which  are  so  famous 
everywhere.  But  it  is  refreshing  to  turn  from  many 
of  these  sights  to  the  realities  of  the  place.  Thus  the 
ancient  Temple  wall,  as  Solomon  left  it,  is  wondrous 
perfect  in  many  places  :  and  the  sight  of  this  quite 
transports  one  back  to  sacred  times.  In  one  place 
(called  the  Jews'  place  of  wailing}  there  are  five  courses 
of  these  huge  stones,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  long ;  and 
very  strange  is  it  to  witness  the  lamentation  of  those 
modern  Israelites, — shedding  real  tears  and  sobbing, 

7  "  A  few  words,  and  perhaps  the  when  they  stood   free   and   unpro- 

fewer  the  better,  must  be  devoted  tected  on  the  rough  bill  side ;  but 

to  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.  .  .  .  they  will  remain,  so  long  as  their 

In  spite  of  all  the  doubts  already  protracted  life  is  spared,  the 

that  can  be  raised  against  their  most  venerable  of  their  race  on  the 
antiquity  or  the  genuineness  of  their  surface  of  the  earth  ;  regarded  as  the 
site,  the  eight  aged  olive  trees,  if  most  affecting  of  the  sacred  memo- 
only  by  their  manifest  difference  rials  in  or  about  Jerusalem  ;  the 
from  all  others  on  the  mountain,  most  nearly  approaching  to  theever- 
have  always  struck  even  the  most  lasting  hills  themselves  in  the  force 
indifferent  observers.  They  are  now  with  which  they  carry  us  back  to 
indeed  less  striking  in  the  modern  the  events  of  Gospel  History."— 
garden  enclosure  built  round  them  Stanley's  '  Sinai  and  Palestine  ' 
by  the  Franciscan  Monks,  than  [1856],  p.  450. 


^o  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

\j  \J 

while  they  repeat  the  Psalter,  and  pause  to  kiss  the 
walls  of  their  ancient  Temple. 

"  Jerusalem  itself  is  a  most  picturesque  town,  though 
dirty  and  inconvenient.  It  is  built  on  a  hill,  or  rather 
two  or  three  hills  ;  and  the  curious  mixture  of  Saracenic, 
Gothic  (brought  by  the  Crusaders),  ancient,  and  purely 
modern  masonry,  produces  quite  a  perplexing  effect  on 
the  mind.  The  people  in  the  streets  sustain  the  im- 
pression; for  they  seem  to  be  of  every  nation  under 
heaven,  Jews,  Turks,  Spanish,  Russians,  Germans,  Ar- 
menians, Arabs.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  they  could  talk 
every  language  in  the  world  except  English,  French,  or 
Italian. 

"To-day  we  have  been  twice  to  our  little  English 
Church,  Miss  Fanny  and  I  between  the  services  going 
out  by  St.  Stephen's  Gate  in  order  to  have  a  good  long 
gaze  (of  one  hour  and  a  half)  on  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
.  .  .  Well,  darling,  I  have  to  thank  you  with  all  my 
heart  for  your  dear  letter,  which  awaited  my  arrival 
here.  Pray  write  to  me  a  little  oftener.  Your  next 
must  be  to  Beyrout  after  receiving  this. 

"  And  so  I  send  you  a  hearty  kiss,  and  all  the  most 
loving  wishes  heart  can  form  for  the  darling  little  girl's 
prosperity.  The  keepsake  I  hope  to  bring.  With  fondest 
love  and  a  kiss  to  all, 

"  Ever,  my  little  darling,  your  loving  Uncle, 

"J.W.  B." 

Between  the  date  of  his  last  letter  (May  4),  and  May 
19,  when  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Higgins  to  announce  what 
had  befallen  him,  he  became  so  seriously  ill  that  all 
thought  of  prosecuting  his  tour  had  to  be  abandoned, 
and  the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  make  the  best  of 
his  way  home.  The  proximate  cause  of  this  illness  was 
a  damp  underground  room,  which  unfortunately  fell  to 
his  lot  in  the  house  occupied  by  Miss  Webb's  party,  the 
better  apartments  being  naturally  assigned  to  the  ladies. 
But  that  there  were  other  remoter  causes,  arising  from 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:   FOURTH  PERIOD.    331 

his  own  imprudence,  he  seems  from  his  Journal  to  have 
at  all  events  suspected.  Writing  at  Houghton  Conquest 
at  the  end  of  January  in  the  ensuing  year  (1863),  he 
says  of  bis  illness  : — 

"  I  had  been  not  quite  well  for  many  days.  I  suspect 
I  may  have  caught  cold  from  frequent  early  bathing  in 
the  Red  Sea  at  Akaba.  On  reaching  Petra  I  felt  ill. 
However,  I  entirely  got  over  the  sense  of  indisposition. 
But  at  Jerusalem  I  gradually  found  myself  falling  a  prey 
to  disease.  Lassitude,  which  nothing  but  mental  activity 
enabled  me  to  shake  off,  headache,  and  a  sense  of  cold  in 
my  limbs, — all  this  came  on,  induced  as  I  firmly  believe, 
by  the  damp  room  allotted  to  me  as  a  bed-room.  I  still 
remember  very  keenly  the  sense  of  illness,  with  which 

on  the  afternoon  of "  (he  has  forgotten  the  exact 

date  of  the  day)  "  I  sank.  A  very  skilful  man,  Mr. 
Chaplin,  could  only  attend  to  me  for  two  days  ;  and  I 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Greek  named  Masaraki.  .  .  . 
The  Finns  removed  me  to  their  house,  and  treated  me 
like  a  brother  (surely  it  was  something  to  have  fallen  ill 
on  Mount  Moriah,  and  to  have  been  nursed  on  Mount 
Zion !),  but  all  was  in  vain.  Humanly  speaking,  I  feel 
xure  I  should  have  got  well  within  a  reasonable  time,  if 
I  had  but  been  skilfully  treated  at  first.  But  it  was 
not  to  be." 

The  connexion  between  his  illness  and  the  room  which 
had  fallen  to  his  lot  becoming  apparent  to  his  fellow- 
travellers,  it  was  arranged  by  Miss  Webb  that  another 
and  proper  bedroom  should  be  provided  for  him  on  the 
return  of  the  party  from  an  excursion  to  Jericho.  This 
excursion  he  was  enabled  to  make  ;  and  he  writes  to  Mrs. 
Higgins :  "  The  journey  to  Jericho  did  me  good ;  but  the 
mischief  had  sunk  into  my  constitution,  and  I  felt 
wondrous  ill."  His  "  new  quarters  "  (on  the  return  from 
Jericho,  May  10)  were,  he  says,  "  delightful,  though  in  a 
low  part  of  the  town."  As  his  travelling  companions 
were  obliged  to  leave  him,  to  make  the  tour  of  the  Holy 


332  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

Land,  it  was  arranged  that  he  should  be  removed  to  the 
house  of  the  English  Consul,  Mr.  Finn,  where,  "  on  the 
highest  summit  of  Mount  Zion  "  he  became  "  the  guest  of 
a  most  amiable  and  delightful  household.  Really  the 
kindness  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Finn  is  what  I  shall  never 
be  able  to  forget." 

"  Monday,  May  20. — I  have  received  a  kind  note  from 
Miss  Webb,  from  which  I  learn  that  their  plan  of  start- 
ing holds,  and  that  she  proposes  to  leave  behind  a  capital 
lacquai  de  place,  to  see  me  safe  as  far  as  on  board  the 
steamer  at  Jaffa.  This  is  kind  and  considerate,  and 
relieves  me  of  all  anxiety." 

In  Mr.  Finn's  house, — 

"  all  that  love  could  do  for  me  was  done.  Can  you  fancy, 
while  I  was  eating  an  orange  for  very  despair, — at  12 
o'clock  at  night — the  door  opening,  and  Mrs.  Finn  com- 
ing in  (so  like  a  sister !)  with  an  entreaty  that  she  might 
with  an  etna  make  me  some  sago?''  [this  was  on  the 
night  before  he  left  Jerusalem,  May  23].  "  Having  once 
discovered  that  I  want  so  much  support,  simple  hot  slices 
of  mutton  were  at  all  times  ready  for  me  ;  at  starting"  [at 
8.30,  on  the  morning  of  the  24 th]  "  I  ate  a  plateful.  With 
her  own  hands,  she  sent  off — for  the  furniture  of  my 
litter — the  pillows  and  mattress  off  my  bed.  Else  the 
journey  would  simply  have  been  unmanageable.  Finally, 
after  a  few  croaky  words  of  prayer  and  friendship,  the 
Consul  in  person  mounted  his  horse,  preceded  by  his 
cawasses  (official  attendants),  and  with  his  son  accom- 
panied me  (mounted  on  a  donkey)  outside  the  Jaffa  Gate. 
Here  I  found  my  litter,  which  I  can  only  describe  as 
a  crazy  covered  little  wagon,  pulled  along  by  two  mules, 
one  behind,  one  before."  [In  the  margin  of  his  letter  he 
gives  a  sketch  of  the  litter.]  "  I  had  not  gone  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  when  the  whole  thing  came  to  the  ground  with 
a  crash.  It  would  have  been  ungrateful  indeed  to  grum- 
ble. At  9  I  was  off.  ...  The  sight  of  Mizpah  (where 
Saul  was  made  king)  revived  me,  and  I  kept  casting  an 
eye  of  interest  on  the  scenery  for  hours.  But  I  was 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    333 

very  ill ;  and  the  jolting,  as  we  -went  over  the  scarcely 
passable  road  (for  a  Syrian  road  is  often  a  mere  pile  of 
rocks)  took  a  great  deal  out  of  me." 

At  Ramleh  he  was  domiciled  for  the  night  ("  a  night 
of  rare  suffering")  in  an  Arabian  house,  and  next  morn- 
ing, as  he  is  wondering  "  how  he  should  possibly  get 
through  the  day  on  Arab  diet,"  is  visited  by  a  German 
Missionary,  who  had  married  an  English  lady,  and  is 
suitably  fed,  as  well  as  most  kindly  nursed  and  tended 
in  their  house.  After  "  a  second  night  of  unspeakable 
trouble  and  unrest "  he  is  in  his  litter  again  at  7.30  the 
next  morning  (May  26),  and  at  11.15  reached  the  Pales- 
tine Hotel,  Jaffa 8. 

The  next  day  (May  27),  "the  Russian  packet  having 
arrived,"  he  totters  down  to  the  shore,  leaning  on  the 
arm  of  the  consul  of  Jaffa,  Assaad  a  Khayat,  and  there 
is  caught  up  by  the  sailors,  and  laid  in  the  boat  which 
Captain  Mansell,  who  was  surveying  the  coast,  had 
kindly  lent  him  for  the  purpose  of  his  embarkation. 
"  It  was  delightful  to  find  myself  in  Jack's  arms,  who 
treated  me  like  a  plaything."  On  board  the  packet,  Mr. 
Meredith,  the  Civil  Engineer  ("  the  same  who  laid  down 
the  Smyrna  Railway,  and  who  of  course  knew  many  of 
our  own  Smyrna  connexions  "),  placed  his  dragoman  at 
Burgon's  disposal,  and  "  promised  not  to  forsake  me  till 
he  saw  me  safe  on  shore.  I  am  sure  you"  [Mrs.  Higgins] 
li  and  dearest  Charles  will  not  require  the  assurance  that 
so  many  marks  of  Mercy  and  Providence  and  Love  many 
a  time  overcame  me.  I  murmured  to  myself  many  a 
time  ;  '  I  see,  I  see  Thine  Almighty  Fingers  moving.'  " 
Stretched  on  a  mattress  and  pillows  which  were  placed 
for  him  on  the  highest  deck,  he  drank  in  the  sea-breeze 

8  Letter  to  Mrs.  Higgins,  "  Palestine  Hotel,  Jaffa,  Monday,  May  26, 
1862." 


334  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

for  five  hours  of  daylight ;  and  at  night  the  steamer  was 
moored  off  Mount  Carmel, — "  a  sad  night  of  suffering  to 
me"  The  next  day  he  -was  laid  upon  the  deck  again  : 
and  in  the  afternoon  "  we  neared  Beyrout  and  Lebanon — 
grand  and  beautiful  all — but  I  felt  too  ill  to  enjoy  any- 
thing." Mr.  Meredith,  -with  the  utmost  kindness,  ful- 
filled his  promise,  got  the  patient  through  the  Customs 
(•which,  had  he  been  alone,  t:  would  have  been  a  simple 
impossibility  in  that  hot  sun  and  with  those  noisy 
clamorous  men"),  and  delivered  him  safe  at  the  Belle 
Vue  Hotel,  Beyrout9. 

At  Beyrout,  he  found  the  regular  practitioner  (Dr. 
Berkeley)  absent,  he  having  been  sent  for  to  attend  the 
celebrated  Henry  Buckle,  who  was  then  lying  sick  with 
fever  at  Damascus,  and  who  died  there  while  Burgon 
was  at  Beyrout.  In  Dr.  Berkeley's  absence  he  at  first, 
by  the  advice  of  the  Consul-General,  Mr.  Niven  Moore, 
consulted  a  Milanese  doctor,  under  whom  for  a  time  he 
seemed  to  progress  favourably,  but  who  at  last  gave  him 
a  quack  medicine,  which  brought  on  alarming  symptoms. 
This  led  him  to  send  for  Dr.  Berkeley,  who  had  by  that 
time  returned,  and  who  took  his  case  in  hand.  Still  he 
found  himself  very  low  and  weak.  "  Utter  prostration 
is  all  I  can  say  for  myself,"  he  writes  to  Mr.  Rose  on  the 
6th  of  June ;  "  How  can  a  man  be  taking  6  gr.  of  quinine 
per  day,  and  three  wine  glasses  of  tonic,  with  wine,  pale 
ale,  and  solid  food  at  9,  i,  and  5,  without  being  strength- 
ened ?  But  there  is  an  indescribable  languor  and  faint- 
ness, — a  desire  to  fling  myself  on  the  sofa,  which  is 
distressing.  Still  I  hope  and  believe,  as  the  Doctor  says, 
that  I  am  decidedly  better." 

At  Beyrout  he  remained,  invalided,  for  the  whole 
month  of  June.  Miss  Webb,  it  appears  from  a  letter 

•  Letter  to  Mra.  Higgins,  "  Beyrout,  Ascension  Day,  May  29,  1862." 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    335 

to  one  of  his  nieces  dated  June  14,  rejoined  him  here  in 
the  early  part  of  the  month.  "Her  arrival,"  he  says, 
"  has  already  worked  a  great  change  in  my  health  for 
the  better."  In  a  letter  to  another  niece,  written  six 
days  after,  he  says ; — 

"  Only  one  great  mistake  have  I  made  since  I  have 
been  here.  Dear  Miss  Webb  most  kindly  proposed  car- 
riage exercise  ;  and  the  Doctor  was  strenuous  in  second- 
ing the  move.  No  one  told  us  that  the  carriage  could 
not  come  within  i  \  miles  of  the  Hotel !  That  walk,  and 
the  drive  that  followed,  almost  made  me  ill.  I  returned 
in  a  boat,  but  O  !  it  was  pain  and  grief  to  me.  This  is 
some  days  ago  ;  but  I  recollect  it  still  with  horror,  like 
some  dreadful  nightmare  ! " 

The  extraordinary  affectionateness  of  these  two  letters 
to  his  nieces  (one  of  them  written  on  the  young  lady's 
birthday),  makes  them  unsuitable,  except  in  the  short 
passages  already  cited,  for  publication  (one  of  them 
begins,  for  example,  "  My  own  most  tender  and  sweetest 
of  little  sisters  ").  It  would  seem  as  if  the  strong  love  of 
kindred  and  of  young  people,  which  characterized  him 
throughout  his  life,  was  rendered  more  intense,  and  even 
extravagant  in  its  expressions,  by  his  then  state  of 
physical  prostration  and  imbecility.  But  the  piety 
of  his  mind  as  well  as  its  tenderness  comes  out  in  his 
effusions  during  this  illness.  Witness  the  following 
verses,  which  were  written  as  he  was  lying  on  the  deck 
of  the  French  steamer,  which  conveyed  him  from  Bey- 
rout  to  Marseilles. 

"  LINES  WRITTEN  IN  ILLNESS." 

'•  When  sorrow's  tide  runs  all  too  high, 
And  on  my  bed  I  sleepless  lie 
With  throbbing  pulse  and  tearful  eye, — 


-;6  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

\)  O 

Jesus  my  Saviour,  mighty  Lord, 
By  Angels  and  by  Saints  adored, 
Help  me  to  lean  upon  Thy  Word. 

To  lean  on  that. — to  lean  on  Thee,— 
What  difference?     There,  Thy  form  I  see, 
Thy  voice  it  is  that  speaks  to  me. 

And  there  in  all  my  deep  distress, 
And  in  my  spirit's  loneliness, 
I  find  Thee  waiting  but  to  bless. 

Hold  Thou  me  up  from  day  to  day, 
And  lest  these  footsteps  go  astray, 
Still  keep  them  in  the  narrow  way. 

Nor  do  I  ask  that  when  I  die 
An  angel  may  be  hovering  nigh ; 
I  pray  for  THEE  to  stand  close  by. 

Be  with  me  in  that  darksome  hour 
When  Satan  struggles  most  for  power — 
Lest  spirit,  soul,  or  flesh  should  cower. 

And  for  the  rest, — O  Father,  Son, 
And  Holy  Ghost,  Thy  Will  be  done! 
I  know  'twill  be  a  righteous  one. 

"J.  W.  B. 

"Written  July  3,  1862,  lying  on  the  deck  of  the 
steamer,  before  it  left  Beyrout." 

His  Journal  (already  quoted)  written  on  the  3ist  of 
January,  in  the  ensuing  year,  gives  this  rapid  summary 
of  his  voyage  from  Beyrout  to  England : — 

"  On  July  3,  I  was  conveyed  on  board  the  Jourdain 
which  reached  Marseilles  July  16.  We1  hurried  on  to 
Paris,  and  after  a  halt  hurried  home,  reaching  Chesham 
Place  on  the  evening  of  Friday,  July  1 8." 

1  Captain  and  Mrs.  Bayley  accom-  took  charge  of  him  during  the 
panied  him  home,  and  most  kindly  voyage. 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    337 

In  Chesham  Place  was  the  Town  i%esidence  of  Miss  Webb. 
His  sister  and  brother-in-law,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins,  met 
him  there,  and  conveyed  him  the  next  day  to  Turvey 
Abbey,  their  place  in  Bedfordshire. 

t;It  was  an  unspeakable  comfort,"  he  says,  "that 
meeting  with  dearest  Helen  and  Charles.  Their  kind- 
ness is  not  to  be  told.  But  Oh  !  in  what  need  I  was  oi 
kindness  and  help.  I  was  reduced  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  At  Turvey  I  could  scarcely  sit  upright.  My 
nights  were  sleepless  and  painful;  my  days  I  used  to 
pass  on  the  sofa.  To  walk  for  twenty  minutes  in  the 
garden  was  a  supreme  object  of  dread  with  me, — an 
effort  to  which  I  was  wholly  unequal.  I  could  neither 
write  nor  read.  I  could  neither  dress  nor  undress 
myself  at  all.  Thus  in  many  respects  I  was  worse  than 
at  Beyrout ;  but  in  one  respect  I  was  better,  viz.  that 
a  little  conversation  was  not  so  oppressive,  or  rather  so 
overwhelming,  exhausting.  ...  A  visit  of  five  weeks  to 
Dover  (24  Sept.  to  30  Oct.  1862)  did  much  for  me  ;  but  I 
went  back  sadly  by  spending  two  days  in  London.  At 
last  (Tuesday,  1 8  Nov.)  I  came  on  hither  "  [Houghton 
Conquest].  "  I  have  had  ample  leisure,  since  I  first  fell  ill. 
to  think  over  the  whole  of  what  I  have  felt  to  be  a  most 
mysterious  dispensation.  Nearest  to  me,  and  most  in- 
disputable, have  been  the  marks  of  God's  watchful  provi- 
dence and  love." 

He  then  speaks  with  deep  gratitude  of  all  the  persons 
who  have  shown  him  kindness  in  his  illness, — Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Finn  at  Jerusalem,  Captain  Mansell  and  Assaad  a 
Khayat  at  Jaffa,  and  Mr.  Meredith  on  board  the  steamer 
to  Beyrout. 

"  All  these  were  instruments  in  God's  hands :  I 
could  never  lose  sight  of  Him. — But  that  which  has 
most  struck  me  with  wonder  is  the  astonishing  way 
in  which  I  have  been  denied  a  sight  of  the  sacred  ob- 
jects I  left  England  expressly  in  order  to  see.  It  was 
VOL.  i.  z 


338  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

passing  strange.  A  few  weeks  would  have  shewn  me 
what  I  most  wished  to  see, — Bethel,  Shechem,  Nain, 
Nazareth,  Carmel,  and  oh !  far,  far,  above  all.  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  but  no !  Deo  aliler  visnm  est  \  In  pain,  and 
in  weakness,  and  in  sorrow,  and  in  loneliness.  I  went  by 
sea  to  a  point  far  north  of  the  Holy  Land.  Damascus 
was  within  reach.  But  even  Damascus  I  could  not 
visit.  ...  I  came  home  in  broken  health,  and  quite  a 
wreck." 

The  secret  of  his  disappointment  he  finds  in  the 
imagined  sinfulness  of  his  going  abroad,  when  St.  Mary's 
was  waiting  for  him  as  its  Pastor. 

"  How  can  I  review  this  solemn  dispensation  without 
a  deep  suspicion  that  I  can  understand  it  also  ?  I  do 
believe  that  I  ought  never  to  have  gone,  and  oh  !  that  I 
had  stayed  in  England,  and  undertaken  the  duties  of  St. 
Mary's  !  Oh !  how  gladly  would  I  undo  the  past  if  that 
were  possible ! 

"  Most  solemn  of  all  has  been  the  prolonged  duration 
of  my  illness.  Here  is  not  only  the  denial  of  my  desires, 
but  their  chastisement  as  well.  At  the  end  of  a  full 


miserably  weak." 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  conviction  of  his  having  acted 
wrongly  in  going  abroad  recurred  to  him  again  and  dis- 
quieted him  in  the  month  preceding  his  death,  when,  as 
during  the  illness  which  arose  from  the  Jerusalem  fever, 
his  bodily  powers  were  prostrated.  The  reader  will  be 
inclined  to  think  that  on  both  occasions  his  physical 
weakness  had  affected  the  mind,  and  rendered  it  morbid  ; 
and  that  the  sounder  view  of  the  subject  is  that  which 
he  tells  us,  strange  to  say,  in  the  same  page  of  his 
Journal  had  sometimes  presented  itself  to  him,  when 
pondering  the  subject  of  his  illness : — 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    339 

"  I  have  even  thought  sometimes  that  had  I  commenced 
work  again  at  Oxford,  in  Oct.  1 86 1,  a  severer  break-down 
might  have  been  the  consequence, — so  reduced  was  I, 
and  overworked,  when  I  went  abroad.  The  religious 
troubles,  which  have  since  occurred  there,  might  also 
have  been  too  much  for  me.  I  try  to  find  comfort 
where  I  can/' 

But  it  is  a  long  lane  which  has  no  turning,  says  the 
old  proverb,  and.  seriously  ill  as  Burgon  had  been — so  ill 
that  on  his  first  arrival  at  Turvey,  Mr.  Higgins  had  said 
to  his  wife,  "we  must  do  all  we  can  for  the  dear  one, 
but  I  fear  he  will  not  leave  our  house  alive," — so  ill  that 
he  himself  was  continually  saying  to  his  sister  and 
brother-in-law,  "  My  work  is  done,  I  shall  never  be  able 
to  do  anything  more," — he  began  to  rally  after  his  visit 
to  Dover,  and  found  himself  able  to  dispense  with  the 
two  sticks,  by  the  help  of  which  he  had  hitherto  walked. 
The  following  letter  seems  to  show  that  his  mind  also 
had  recovered  its  tone,  and  that  in  affection  for  his 
friends,  love  of  little  ones,  and  tenderness  towards  past 
associations,  he  was  the  same  as  ever. 


To  THE  REV.  ALFRED  HENSLEY. 

"  Turvey  Abbey,  Bedford,  Nov.  n,  1862. 

"  Dearest  Old  Buck, — I  have  been  long  wishing  to 
write  to  you.  I  have  to  thank  you  for  many  kind  en- 
quiries, and  am  now  able  to  tell  you,  under  my  own 
fist,  that  I  am  a  great  deal  better  than  I  was,  though 
still  a  lame  dog,  and  very  far  from  well. 

"  I  have  been  over  wonderful  scenes,  and  often  thought 
of  you,  when  I  was  most  happy  in  them.  But  the 
interest  of  entering  the  Holy  Land  (alas !  I  did  but 
enter  it !)  surpassed  everything.  I  made  many  sketches, 
some  of  which  I  shall  much  like  to  shew  you  one  bright 
day. 

Z  2 


340  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURGON. 

"  And  on  your  side,  what  have  you  been  doing "? 
spoiling  our  little  Fanny — eh  ?  come,  be  honest,  and  tell 
me  exactly  what  kind  of  little  maiden  she  is.  Re- 
member me  kindly  to  your  dear  wife  also,  and  be  sure 
you  do  not  forget  me  yourself. 

"  Time  steals  on  apace.  Do  you  remember  how  we 
two  walked  up  Beaumont  Street  together,  some  twenty 
years  ago,  to  be  matriculated  1  It  seems  like  yesterday. 
And  yet,  when  my  younger  nephew  took  the  same  walk 
the  other  day  (he  also  is  at  Worcester),  I  was  forcibly 
reminded  that  full  many  a  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
to-morrow  have  gone  to  make  up  the  sum  of  the  years. 

"  One  word  more  and  I  have  done.  Some  one  told  me 
the  other  day  that  you  had  helped  to  spread  a  report, 
that  I  am  going  to  be  married.  Nothing  in  the  world  is 
more  untrue.  I  have  not  had,  for  some  years  past,  any 
intention  whatever  of  the  kind.  Do  me  the  favour  then, 
if  it  be  ever  in  your  power,  to  contradict,  in  the  roundest 
manner,  a  report  which  cannot  but  be  injurious  to  some- 
body, and  against  which,  when  it  is  unfounded,  every 
instinct  of  chivalry  revolts.  Believe  me  ever,  my  dearest 
old  man,  Your  affectionate  friend,  • 

"  JOHN  W.  BURGON. 

"  I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to  return  to  Oxford  on  this 
side  of  Xmas.  I  hope  you  are  well  ?  Adieu  ! " 

One  quite  sees  in  the  fact  of  his  having  travelled  in 
the  company  of  two  or  three  ladies,  whose  society  he 
much  enjoyed,  and  who  greatly  admired  him,  the  genesis 
of  the  false  report  about  his  marriage. 

When  Christmas  came,  his  return  to  Oxford  had  still 

1863-  to  be  postponed;  for  on  the  i2th  of  January,  1863,  we 

3  find  him  thus  writing  to  Professor  Forbes,  his  old  Tutor 

at  Mr.  Greenlaw's  School,  Blackheath.     He  writes  from 

his  elder  sister's  house  at  Houghton  Conquest,  to  which, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins  had  brought  him  on  Nov.  18  of 

the  preceding  year.     In  the  earlier  part  of  the  letter, 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE:  FOURTH  PERIOD.    341 

after  referring  to  the  after  life  of  several  of  his  school- 
fellows at  Blackheath,  he  gives  Professor  Forbes  a  rapid 
sketch  of  what  had  befallen  him  since  he  left  school, 
bringing  down  the  narrative  to  the  time  of  his  illness, 
and  concluding  thus  :  ';  I  am  convalescent. — nay,  really 
getting  well ;  but  I  am  advised  not  to  think  of  returning 
to  Oxford,  until  after  Easter."  From  another  paragraph 
of  this  letter  we  find  that  the  interest  always  hitherto  felt 
by  him  in  the  structure  of  Holy  Scripture  is  still  the 
same  as  ever.  Professor  Forbes  in  his  letter  to  him,  had 
referred  to  the  subject  of  Parallelism,  the  great  principle 
of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  seems  to  have  asked  his  opinion 
on  Bishop  Jebb's  well-known  application  of  the  principle 
to  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  other  passages  of  Holy  Scripture 
not  usually  considered  poetical.  Burgon  replies  : — 

"  One  word  about  Parallelism.  I  am  not  an  un- 
believer ;  still  less  an  unwilling  listener;  but  /  cannot 
»ee  the  proof.  I  see  enough  to  feel  convinced  that  there 
is  something  in  it.  but  I  cannot  take  the  leap  sometimes 
required  of  me  ;  or  I  hesitate  to  admit  something  which 
seems  to  me  purely  arbitrary ;  or  an  analogy  seems  to 
me  fanciful ;  or  a  correspondence  which  clearly  main- 
tains in  three  instances,  breaks  down  (me  jwKce)  in  the 
fourth.  Thus  (to  speak  somewhat  at  random)  the  Lord's 
Prayer  I  have  always  thought  consists  of  three  petitions 
which  have  God,  and  four  which  have  men,  for  their 
object.  But  you  bid  me  isolate  the  fourth,  and  regard 
it  as  a  central  petition,  on  either  side  of  which  others 
balance.  The  Beatitudes  I  reckon  at  eight,  not  seven. 
But  be  they  in  a  manner  seven,  their  partial  correspon- 
dence with  the  Lord's  Prayer  I  have  long  since  noticed 
(and  Augustine  before  me) ;  but  it  is  not  (as  far  as  I  can 
see)  complete  and  systematic.  To  be  brief,  I  wish  to  be 
persuaded,  but  cannot  persuade  myself  of  more  than  this, 
that  there  is  something  in  it.  Jebb  has  brought  me  thus 
far,  but  no  further. — In  the  meantime  I  should  rejoice 
unspeakably  if  by  this,  or  by  any  other  unsuspected 


342  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BUROON. 

method,  men  could  be  convinced  of  the  Divine  structure 
of  the  material  of  Holy  Scripture.  The  hostility  of  the 
world  against  God's  Word  is  the  most  fearful  sign  of 
the  times." 

His  convalescence  under  God's  blessing  proceeded 
favourably,  and  on  the  9th  of  Feb.  1863,  a  letter  was 
addressed  to  him  by  Canon  (afterwards  Bishop)  Christo- 
pher Wordsworth,  who  had  recently  put  forth  his  '  Tour 
in  Italy*!  which  was  evidently  designed  to  amuse  him  in 
his  retirement.  The  Canon  had  tried,  he  tells  him,  when 
at  Rome,  to  conciliate  Padre  Vercellone  by  showing  him 
Burgon's  courteous  words  about  him  in  his  '  Letter* 
from  Rome  V 

"  But,  au  contraire,  your  strictures  on  the  errors  in  the 
Roman  edition4,  and  still  more  your  strictures  on  the 
errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome  (which  he  felt  I  believe  to 
be  too  well  merited),  were  too  much  for  him  ;  and  he 
almost  foamed  at  the  mouth.  ...  I  had  some  reason  to 
fear  that  he  would  take  me,  and  put  an  end  to  me  by 
letting  me  quietly  down  into  the  well  of  his  Convent." 

We  find  from  his  Journal  that  on  the  5th  of  August 
he  was  able  to  leave  Houghton  for  Margate,  where  he 

a  The  first  Edition  of  the  '  Tour  '  and  admirable  edition  of  the  Vul- 

appeared  early  in  1863,  and  was  no  gate,  which  he  has    now  in  hand, 

doubt    sent    by   the  Canon   to   his  and  of  which  part  has  already  ap- 

invalid  friend  shortly  after  its  pub-  peared.     It  ought  to  have  a  place 

lication.      A     second  Edition    was  in  all  our  college  libraries."    '  Letters 

published    six    months    after,    the  from  Rome  to  Friends  in  England,' 

Preface    to  which    is    dated  July  p.  34. 

39,    1863.     The    tour   itself   com-  4  The  Canon  means  Cardinal  Mai's 

menced   May    13,   1862,   and  may  Edition   of  the    Codex    Vaticanus, 

be  said  to   have   ended  when   the  completed,    after     the     Cardinal's 

Canon  and  his  party  reached  Paris  death  in   1854,  by  Padre  Vercel- 

on  the  return  journey,  July  4, 1862.  lone.      The    "strictures"   will    be 

"I  cannot  name  this  learned  found    in    Letters   II   and   III   of 

gentleman    without  recommending  Burgon's  '  Letters  from  Rome.' 
to  your  notice   the  very  laborious 


THE  OXFORD  LIFE;  FOURTH  PERIOD.    343 

staid  till  the  1 1  th  of  September  to  complete  his  recovery, 
then  returning  to  Houghton.  On  the  previous  day, 
icth  September,  which  he  notes  as  being  the  anniversary 
of  the  day  of  his  departure  from  England  in  1861,  he 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Chase,  intimating  his  intention 
of  resigning  the  Vicarage  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin's,  and  five 
days  after,  September  15,  came  another  letter  announc- 
ing that  he  himself  would  be  appointed  to  succeed  Mr. 
Chase,  on  Michaelmas  Day,  that  is  a  fortnight  afterwards. 
By  some  dear  friends  and  admirers  in  Oxford  he  was 
strongly  urged  to  accept  the  position.  Hereupon  he 
moralises  thus  in  his  Journal : — 

"  How  is  it  that  I  am  so  faithless,  as  to  be  full  of  mis- 
givings about  my  health,  strength,  ability,  and  the  like? 
Surely  I  am  the  most  faithless  thing  alive  ! 

"  My  heart  sinks  too  (but  that  is  surely  not  inexcus- 
able) at  the  consciousness  that  this  is  the  last  of  my  many 
vacations  here"  (at  Houghton) ;  "the  thought  is  heavy  ; 
and  I  watch  the  sands  running  out  of  the  glass  with  a 
pang  unspeakable.  Those  many  quiet  studious  days 
and  nights,  at  Christmas,  at  Easter,  and  in  the  summer, 
sweetened  by  unceasing  kindness,  and  by  the  society 
of  those  seven  who  are  so  dear  to  me,"  [his  sister  and 
brother-in-law  and  their  five  children],  "  are  almost  at 
an  end.  This  pleasant  vicissitude  with  Oxford  life, — 
a  prolonged  vicissitude,  which  I  have  found  salutary  for 
mind  and  body — will  be  no  more.  For  short  periods 
it  may  be  resumed ;  but  alas !  it  must  henceforth  be 
reckoned  with  the  treasures  of  the  past.  This  dear  place 
can  never  more  be  my  home  \ 

"  Such  sorrow  is  good  for  us.  It  is  good  to  face  it.  and 
to  feel  it  too.  All  things  must  come  to  an  end.  An 
adopted  like  a  real  home,  cannot  (alas)  be  for  ever.  All 
things  here  below  have  an  end ;  and  I  must  now  brace 
up  my  heart  to  go  forth  when  God  calls  me,  and  not 
seek  my  own  selfish  enjoyment,  as  I  did  this  time  two 
years  ago. 

"  O    my  God,  be  with   me !    leave   me   not,    neither 


344  LIFE  OF  DEAN  BURQON. 

forsake  me !  let  the  Angel  of  thy  Presence  comfort  me. 
and  shew  me  my  way  in  this  wilderness  of  life,  for  the 
sake  of  JESUS  CHRIST,  the  Saviour  of  us  all. — J.  W.  B." 

On  Friday,  the  9th  of  October,  1863,  he  left  this  happy 
home  for  Oxford,  to  be  inducted  to  the  Vicarage  of 
St.  Mary's. 


END   OF   VOL.    I. 


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